


Facilis Descensus Averno

by quercus



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-04-10
Updated: 2002-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-05 12:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quercus/pseuds/quercus





	Facilis Descensus Averno

The air was hot and smelt of cypress and dust. Daniel shut his eyes and for a moment could believe he was fifteen years younger, working on a dig on Santorini. He took a deep breath of the air and wished he could open his eyes and find Sarah before him, and Robert, and even Steven, dirty, and little drunk, and very happy. When he opened them, he saw Teal'c's disapproving face.

"You are not well, Daniel Jackson."

Jack's head whipped around, and Daniel saw himself reflected in his sunglasses.

"I'm fine," he protested, and adjusted his pack. He felt Sam step up beside him. "Really," he added turning to her. "Just -- I just remembered something."

The silence stretched on uncomfortably long. Sam put her hand on his elbow; he moved his arm slightly, so her hand slid through, and they smiled at each other. "Shall we go for a stroll?" he finally asked, and her smile grew luminescent.

"Come on, kids," Jack said, and the comfort of her hand dropped away as she stepped back into position. Watching his six, he thought, and couldn't stop smiling.

There was no path from the stargate, unlike most of the worlds they visited. It stood in an arid and hilly land. The soil was milk-white and as fine as chalk; in fact, Daniel thought, looking down, it probably was chalk. Limestone. Calcium carbonate. This place had been the bottom of an ocean eons ago.

As they walked, Daniel looked around him. Sparse vegetation grew over the land: clumps of bushes with shiny leaves and tiny red berries; tall, elegant trees, like the cypress of earth; low-growing weedy plants like lessingia stretching out across the soil. The only sounds were their footsteps and the steady almost mechanical buzz of insects.

Jack and Teal'c stopped again, conferring over a map; Teal'c nodded, and they moved out again. Daniel didn't mind the slow pace. It was peaceful here, the heat enervating. He wanted to suggest a picnic, and wondered at his whimsical mood. He thought again of Santorini, of the picnics he'd eaten there, of swimming nude on the deserted beaches, watching Steven, watching Sarah, listening to Robert kvetch, who'd been too shy to strip but unwilling to be left out.

Despite his preoccupation, his trained eye caught a glimpse of something nearly hidden behind those bushes. "Jack," he called softly, and started toward it.

"Daniel, stop. Let Teal'c check it out." Impatiently, Daniel obeyed, bouncing on his heels. Jack stood next to him and watched as Teal'c, staff weapon lowered, approached.

"It's just a statue," Daniel told Jack, who nodded.

"No doubt." But when Daniel moved toward it, he again found himself held by the elbow, in Jack's firm grip rather than Sam's affectionate clasp of friendship. "Down, boy," Jack murmured, taking the sting out of the gesture, and Daniel looked at him over his shoulder. He thought about arguing, but Jack would let him go when he felt it was safe, and after all these years, Daniel knew that no amount of protesting, at no matter what volume, would change Jack's mind. So he stood quietly until Teal'c straightened up and nodded at them.

"You will find this fascinating, I think, Daniel Jackson," and Daniel jogged over.

"Aw, Teal'c," Jack objected, "Don't encourage him, okay?" Daniel ignored him. He pulled out his video camera and began recording the site, murmuring a description of the location and object.

"Approximately six meters high, undetermined width, same color as the cliffs: a pale creamy yellow. Made of limestone, clearly cut from someplace nearby. Overgrown with the same plants seen between here and the stargate, which is roughly a third of a mile back." The others stood silently, keeping watch, letting him do what he loved more than anything.

After nearly fifteen minutes of recording his observations, he tucked the little camera away. "Teal'c, Jack, would you help me?" Against all his training, he knew he had to do some fast excavation. Jack wouldn't let him stay here long, and the odds on being permitted to return were minuscule. "Put real gloves on, Jack, not those fingerless mitts," he advised, pulling his heavy work gloves from his pack. "We need to pull the vines off this, get a better look at it."

The plants lifted away with little difficulty, their tiny roots ripping away like basting. The top of the artifact was quickly revealed: an enormous ear. Very human looking, too. Facing them was the back of head with a muscled neck leading into one visible shoulder. The other must be buried in the earth that had mounded up throughout the centuries.

Daniel got out a machete and began hacking at the bushes on the opposite side, working quickly, sweat rolling into his eyes. Within ten minutes, he had a place to stand and could look onto the face of whoever this was.

Strong eyebrows over wide-set eyes, a straight nose, a square jaw. Generous, even voluptuous lips, the lines bracketing the mouth suggesting both humor and great resolve. Daniel backed up as much as he could, pressing back into the springy bushes, and pulled out the camera again. "Who are you?" he whispered, and bent to his right so he could better see the face.

He shut the camera off again when he heard the others scrambling around and over the head to stand with him. "Wow," Sam said. "Handsome."

"Who was he?" Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged. "Somebody important, obviously."

"Looks like you."

Daniel turned to Jack. "Excuse me?"

"Those eyebrows. They're yours. Carter, Teal'c?"

"Indeed, there is a strong resemblance. The ears, too, resemble yours."

"You've noticed Daniel's _ears_?"

"Wait, wait. Sam?"

"Well, yeah. Kind of." She turned her head back and forth, to study his face and then the statue's. "It's hard to tell because of the angle, but I think the colonel is right."

Daniel felt his eyebrows go up, and Jack began to laugh. "See?" he said to the others. "See? Got that same imperious look on his face."

"Imperious?" Daniel wasn't sure if he was more surprised to hear that Jack had the word in his vocabulary or to hear it applied to himself.

"Indeed," Teal'c said again. Daniel stared at the enormous face, battered by time and weather. In all honesty, the only resemblance he saw was in that they both had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. He shrugged, and continued taking notes.

"How much longer, Daniel?" Jack asked him.

"Several years, if not decades."

"Daniel."

He flipped his notebook closed and looked up at his team. "Now."

"Then let's move out. Teal'c."

They resumed their explorations, Daniel turning once to look past Sam at the fallen head, wondering who he had been that he'd warranted such a monument. She caught his eye and smiled at him, and he could only smile back.

The hills drew nearer around them as they continued, and soon they stood overlooking a small valley. A miniature river threaded through it, and scattered sparsely around were homes, set into old vineyards and orchards. A peaceable place, Daniel thought, as they watched carefully for signs of life. A woman was singing, a man dug in his garden, someone pulled a small cart from one side of their property to another. "Any ideas?" Jack asked him.

"First person we meet, I guess."

They remained there for a moment longer, looking down at the bucolic scene, and then Teal'c led them down to their meeting.

The first person they met was a child and, although Daniel wasn't good with children's ages, he guessed the little boy was around five. His shaggy hair was streaked with the chalky soil; he'd been practicing somersaults while they watched. When he rolled up and saw them, his eyes widened comically and his mouth dropped open. Daniel knelt, even though they were many yards apart, and said, "Hello. We're peaceful explorers."

The little boy blinked and then turned, scrambling away from them, heading up a narrow, shrub-lined lane. Silently, Daniel stood, and the four of them waited for the next appearance of a native.

He glanced at Jack, standing quietly next to him and staring after the child. Jack had been unusually quiet lately, his handsome face brooding when Daniel caught him unawares. He lightly touched his friend's arm; Jack looked at him and Daniel again saw himself reflected in Jack's dark glasses. "Okay?" he murmured. The lines around Jack's mouth relaxed a bit, and he nodded.

Within minutes, an older man wearing a white straw hat jogged down the path, followed by an even older man bearing the little boy on his back. "Hello," Daniel called, spreading his arms to they could see he wasn't carrying a weapon. Or at least wasn't pointing one at them. "We are peaceful explorers."

"Allo," the first man said at last, and pushed his hat back. His hair was as grey as Jack's, Daniel saw, and his face deeply lined. "Benvenuto," he called. The older one said something to him and he gestured: quiet, Daniel thought it might mean. "Come si chiama?" he asked.

"Mi chiamo Daniel. Jack," he pointed, "Sam, e Teal'c."

"Benvenuto," he said again. "Mi chiamo Achille." He pointed at the older man, now standing by his side. "Mi padre, Vittorio. E mi figlio, Sueno." Daniel smiled. "Ciao," he said, then murmured to the others, "Say 'ciao.'"

"Ciao," Jack called, holding up his right hand. Teal'c nodded, and Sam smiled shyly.

"Di dov'e Lei?"

"Um, from earth. Midgaard? Tau'ri." All this was received with blank comments, so Daniel shrugged elaborately. "Mi scusi," he said at last.

Jack touched his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"They want to know where we're from, but they don't seem to recognize any of the names for earth."

"Not Tau'ri? That's a good sign."

Daniel nodded. "Per favore," he started, but Vittorio was speaking to Achille. Then Achille spoke rapidly to Daniel, who translated under his breath to Jack. "They say we should meet the sindaco."

"Sindaco? Like syndicate? What, the mafia's here, too? Great."

"No, no. Sindaco is like a mayor." I hope, he added to himself.

"Andiamo," Achille called. He said a few words to his father, and kissed his son, then approached SG-1 cautiously.

"Come si arriva li?" Daniel asked, and Achille pointed. "Jack?"

He shrugged. "I guess we follow."

The walk wasn't long. The path they were on grew slightly wider, but Daniel thought his car would have a hard time navigating it. He assumed that meant they had no such vehicles, or at least this little village couldn't afford them. Although they could hear secateurs clipping and saw a man standing on a ladder-like structure trimming trees, no one saw them and they walked in silence. Achille glanced nervously over his shoulder, but he smiled easily enough when one of them smiled at him.

"Not many visitors, I take it," Jack said, and Daniel asked Achille.

"No, rarely. He says there used to be more when he was a little boy, but that things have changed."

"That doesn't sound good," Sam said, and Daniel silently agreed.

The sindaco lived in a modest home, pale pink with two cypress trees on either side of the massive front door. "Buon giorno, buon giorno," he greeted them expansively, and settled them to one side of the house under a trellis covered in flowering plants. Daniel was once again grateful for Janet's inoculations. Achille and the sindaco spoke for some time, rapidly and quietly; Daniel eavesdropped as best he could, but they seemed to be discussing only SG-1's arrival and the best time to plant something.

Achille took his leave of them, bowing, wishing them well. "Ciao," Jack called after him, as the sindaco invited them to sit and settled himself. He had a little belly that he laced his fingers over as he studied the four strangers. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"To explore and learn about new cultures and technologies," Daniel replied promptly. "For example, what do you call this place?"

"This?" The sindaco circled his hand. "Not big enough for a name. A day's walk away is Placido, though. More people, more work. You are looking for work?"

"No, no. This is our job."

The sindaco stared at him. Daniel supposed it would be hard to believe that their job was to walk around talking to strangers. No fields to plant, no cows to tend to. At last the sindaco said, "You should go to Placido, then. More people for you to speak with."

Daniel relayed this information to Jack, who nodded. "How long to get there?"

"Just a day. He says that, if we leave now, we'd be there by this time tomorrow."

"Sounds like he wants us to leave now."

"Um, I think so."

"Seen anything Goa'uld-ish here?"

"No. Not at all. Sam? Teal'c?"

"I have felt no presence of symbiotes, nor seen any indication of Goa'uld presence."

"Well, Daniel, you're the linguist. Tell me why these people are speaking Italian if the Goa'uld didn't take them."

Daniel turned back to the sindaco, who'd been watching them curiously. "You speak a language very similar to one spoken at our home," he said. "Do you have any stories about where you came from?"

The sindaco laughed. "From my father's prick and my mother's belly," he said, rising. "To Placido, I think. You'll find more people to ask your questions of there. You are rested, yes? So we have done our obbligato?"

"Yes, of course." Daniel rose with the sindaco, and the others followed. "It's been, um, lovely, really. Grazie. Mille grazie."

The sindaco walked them back out to the narrow road and pointed to his right. "Stay on the road. It goes up that mountain; near the top is a shelter. Stay there for the night. Tomorrow mid-morning, you'll be in Placido."

"Is there someone to ask for?"

The sindaco stared at him. "There is no need to ask." Daniel translated this for Jack, who looked worried, but the sindaco only waved at them. " A piu tardi," he said, which Daniel took as a good omen. Why else say see you later?

It was a warm day and soon he was sweating. He wiped his face with his bandanna and pulled out his hat. The climb wasn't steep, but it was steady, and the white chalky soil bounced the heat back into his face. Sam was already pinking up, and Jack's cheekbones were rosy. He suspected he was just as red.

"We must be at some altitude," Sam broke the silence. "I'm having trouble catching my breath, but this just isn't that bad a hike."

"I agree," Jack said, huffing. Daniel only nodded. Teal'c looked imperturbable as always, although sweat rolled off his head and soaked the collar of his uniform. They stopped once for lunch, and Daniel could have kicked himself when he realized they might have bought fresh bread and fruit from the sindaco, if only he'd thought of it. Instead, he ate a granola bar, a battered apple, and drank warm water from his canteen.

The day grew hotter. Daniel took off his shirt and wore only his tee shirt; the others did the same, even Sam. Big sweaty circles formed under his arms, and he plucked at the cotton, trying to cool himself. The buzzing of the insects sounded like someone sawing wood, a dull drone that hypnotized him as he walked, eyes half-closed, trying to shield himself from the sun.

"Break," Jack called at last, and they staggered off the road into the bushes, searching for a bit of shade. Even Teal'c groaned as he sat; Daniel rolled onto his back and pulled his hat over his face. "Drink, Daniel," Jack told him, nudging him with his boot. He groaned and sat up a bit, enough to swallow some water, then lay down immediately.

He woke to find Jack gently shaking him. "Sorry, Daniel," he said, and Daniel believed him. Jack was almost as sunburned as Sam, who had belatedly smeared sunblock on her face. She handed him the tube and he did the same, then gave it to Jack, who shook his head.

"Come on, Jack. You'll be miserable." He squeezed the white stuff onto his fingers and painted it on Jack's face for him. Jack rolled his eyes, but sat quietly enough under his ministrations. "Okay. Now your hat." Jack hated the Air Force issued sun hat, but the tips of his ears were too red for his grimy baseball cap.

They set out again, silent and miserable, Jack sulking, Daniel thought, under his floppy hat.

As the sun began to set, the air quickly began to chill. Daniel pulled his over shirt on again, wondering when they'd find the shelter the sindaco had mentioned. Surely they were near the summit of this interminable hill? It seemed as though their climb would never end. He was huffing a bit, the sweat cooling on his face, when Teal'c pointed out a small clearing to their left. In it sat a small building, not tall enough for any of them to stand up in, but still, shelter. "All right, troops," Jack said, and stretched. Daniel could hear his back popping as he did.

It was Daniel's turn to dig the latrine, so when he'd tossed his pack into the hut and pulled out the folding shovel, he headed away from the path they'd followed to the hut, looking for a suitable place. Over the years, Jack had tutored him in the fine skills of latrine-digging, and he had years of experience before that from the many digs he'd worked on.

Cautious of possible snakes, he pushed through the brush until he was a few yards away from the others. Far enough for some privacy, but not out of range if help was needed, he decided, and began to dig. Almost immediately, he shoveled up broken crockery. He knelt and carefully picked it out of the chalky soil, studying it. A cup, he decided. Painted inside and out at one time, but only the suggestion of color remained. He dug again, and found more, and more. Turning in a circle, he wondered if the entire area had been inhabited once, or if they had happened on a kitchen midden.

Well, it didn't matter to the SGC, although his scholar's soul was perturbed by the necessity of ignoring what he found. He began digging steadily, trying to ignore each shovel full of _stuff_, as Jack would call it. When the trench was about a yard long and a foot deep, he paused. Something glinted at him in the fading sunlight. He knelt again and tapped it. This felt metallic, not ceramic. He carefully brushed the dirt away from it, wishing for his tools, and saw it was a coin. Bronze, he thought. At last he picked it up and brought it near his face.

Pushing his glasses to the top of his head, he peered closely at it. The profile of three women, their regal features and elaborate hairstyles reminded him of Roman coins he'd seen and dug. Neither side carried any writing, but on the obverse was a three-headed dog. Cerberus, perhaps. He sighed and tucked the coin into a pocket, then completed his task.

"Just in time, Daniel," Jack said, making him jump. He was carrying a roll of toilet paper.

Daniel thrust the point of the shovel into the mounded soil next to the trench. "All yours," he invited as Jack began to unbutton his trousers.

Teal'c had already started a fire when he returned, and Sam was fetching water from a pipe stuck into the side of the mountain. "Look at this," she called. The water sprang out, icy, and then vanished down a ceramic drain. "Who'd've thought we'd have running water up here?"

"I think coffee for dessert," Daniel said, standing over her as she filled a kettle, and she nodded.

They were all happy to be settled down and out of the sun. Even Jack was more subdued than usual, Daniel thought, watching him across the fire. "I'll take first watch," he said suddenly, and Jack looked up at him, his eyes dark and tired.

"Yes," Sam said, "and I'll take second." Teal'c nodded and held up three fingers. For a moment, Daniel thought Jack would object, but at last he shrugged and drained the last of his coffee. "Deal," was all he said before heading toward the latrine again. Daniel looked at Sam.

"He looks tired," he murmured, and she nodded. Daniel wanted to say more, but it seemed disloyal to Jack, nor did he know what else to say. His friend was sinking into the Slough of Despond, right before his eyes, but he didn't know what to do.

By the time the others had settled into sleep, a fine mist had settled down, nestling the mountain in its soft folds. The fire was especially welcome, and he silently pulled his poncho around his shoulders, and snugged his hat more firmly on his head before arranging another log onto the fire.

The night was quiet. Sparks from the fire flew upwards, and his eye followed them into the sky, as full of stars as a planetarium. How many such skies had he studied? Under how many alien stars had he slept? Beyond count now. A star shot across the sky, a delicate tracing of silver, and Daniel wondered how many eons ago it had really fallen, its light only now reaching him. Sam might know, but it was his star, his wish, and he kept them to himself.

SG-1 left early the next morning, eager to finish the hike up the mountain before the afternoon heat arrived. As they stepped onto the road, Daniel looked back. "Wait," he called, and trotted back a few yards. "Look at this." He'd found a stone, limestone and therefore crumbly and overgrown, that had something carved into it. "I think it says 'stazione.'"

"What's that mean, Daniel?" Jack asked as he walked back to his team.

"Station. And no, I don't know what that means."

Jack shrugged his pack up higher onto his shoulders. "Let's go, kids."

They reached the peak of the mountain before the sun was directly overhead. Jack shouted out, "Top o' the world, ma!" as they stared around them. A smudge of blue in the distance was probably a lake, Daniel thought. But instead of a drop, they faced a long level hike and then another climb into a white walled city. Placido, he supposed, and it did look placid in the sun.

Outlying houses began to appear along the road, which widened as they continued along. Orchards grew more manicured, and in the distance they could see vineyards stretching to the horizon. The first person they met, a man about Daniel's age, stopped to stare at them, but continued on, stepping cautiously around them but at least not running away. They heard voices from the houses, someone calling someone else, a flute being played on a balcony.

At last they reached the outer walls, white-washed and glaring in the sun. A large gate with the Roman numeral "III" cut into the stone above it was swung back and people passed in and out, watched by guards dressed in yellow and black uniforms, like bumblebees. Daniel saw they were being watched closely as they approached, and he saw Jack watching the guards equally closely. "Daniel," he murmured as they drew close, and Daniel stepped forward.

"Allo," he called to them. "Buon giorno, signori."

"Buon giorno," one responded, and bowed slightly. "What do you wish of our city?"

"We are peaceful travelers from another world, come to learn about your customs." His standard greeting, and almost entirely true. That they were also searching for signs of Goa'uld occupation and the hope of mineral deposits in addition to weapons technology went unsaid.

"You must meet with il governatore first," the guard told them, and Daniel translated for Jack, who nodded.

"Per favore," he said, surprising Daniel and the guard, who bowed again.

"This way," he instructed them. "Welcome to Placido, the hope of the northern province."

"What does that mean?" Sam whispered when Daniel translated his words. He could only shrug.

They followed the guard up through the narrow streets of the city, passing through piazzi of the same limestone. The houses were narrow and tall, with doors on the second story, and few windows. Each was painted a different color: a pale, rosy pink, bright lemon yellow, pistachio green, and an aquamarine that Daniel especially liked. Not an austere city, he thought, and hoped that bode well for their visit.

On they went, climbing higher into the city. They turned into an especially narrow passageway, and Jack groaned -- the line of steps ahead of them seemed endless. The guard looked over his shoulder at them and said, "Sorry," and Daniel thought he meant it. He wondered how many times a day he had to climb these steps.

At the top of the stairway, they passed under a bridge between two buildings and then stepped out into another piazzo, this one looking out into the valley below. There was the lake Daniel had spotted earlier and to its left another city, rust red, shimmering in the mid-day heat.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing.

The guard stared at him, perhaps in disbelief. "Necropolis," he said. Jack made a face. Then they started up another stairwell, this one winding around the side of a building, so the view became even more impressive. Daniel realized the lake was steaming, and that the city sat not simply at its edge but projected into the lake, perhaps built on a peninsula. It looked as though the city itself were on fire.

The stairs led them into a private garden; the scent of herbs and growing vegetables rose around them and Daniel sniffed enthusiastically, wondering if he should take an antihistamine. The raised beds were lined with marigolds, and the walls of the building in full sun were covered with climbing roses.

"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart," Daniel said. The others looked at him, Jack's eyebrows raised high above his glasses. "Um, Psalms. Chapter one hundred and four, verses fourteen and fifteen." When no one said anything, he pointed at a feathery plant. "Anise."

"Wait here," the guard told Daniel, and then left them to wander the grounds.

"Spearmint," Sam said when he'd gone, pointing with the toe of her boot. "And what's this?"

Jack bent over and picked two of the spikey leaves, crushing them between his fingers. "Lavender," he said. "Smell it." He held out his hands and each of them bent over, inhaling deeply.

"Lovely," Sam said.

"Indeed."

"Yeah."

Daniel walked around and through the cultivated raised beds to a low wall. "What a view," he called to the others, who strolled toward him until all four stood together, peering out into the valley below.

"What are we looking at?" Sam asked, and Jack pulled out his binoculars.

"I think it's an island," he said, handing the glasses to her.

"I do, too, sir. The lake must be fed by hot springs; look how it's steaming and smoking."

"At least you can't smell it up here," Jack said, and Daniel nodded. "Why do you suppose the town is red?"

"Maybe it's like Bologna, in Italy, and the stones they used are naturally red?"

"Maybe. Or maybe they painted it red? Some cultural significance?"

Daniel looked at Jack. "Did you just say 'cultural significance'?"

"No," he replied briskly, looking into Daniel's eyes. "You need your hearing checked." Sam snickered, and Daniel smiled at him, happy to see a glimmer of the old Jack.

They turned their backs on the steaming city. Daniel sat on the wall and watched his teammates. Sam bent over a flowering bush, hyssop, Daniel recognized, gently cupping a blue bloom to sniff it. Teal'c stared into the shadows where the guard had disappeared. Jack stood next to Daniel, arms crossed and resting on the P-90 he carried. A low hum rose from the bees visiting the blossoms, heavy with pollen. Drowsy, Daniel closed his eyes and slumped a bit; he realized he was leaning against Jack's hip, but neither man moved.

"Sir," the guard called, and Daniel opened his eyes. "Il governatore will see you now."

"Okay, guys," Daniel said, standing.

"Off to see the wizard?" Jack asked, pushing ahead of him.

"I think so."

They were led through a wide door into the building opposite the parapet on which they'd been standing. Jack went first, then Daniel, Sam, and finally Teal'c. At first they walked through a long hall with very high ceilings; sconces burned on either side. Eventually, they came to a wide archway with a large triangular capstone; it reminded Daniel of the chevrons on the stargate. He tapped Jack's back to catch his attention and then pointed upwards. Jack raised his eyebrows and nodded.

The guard stood under the arch and gestured for them to pass; they entered an enormous room with the first windows they'd seen, three large ones looking out onto a wild vista of ever taller mountains. Daniel stopped to stare until Sam gently pushed him forward. He dropped his eyes and realized that a group of men in dark clothes was watching him. Jack tilted his head slightly; Daniel nodded and went to stand next to him. Sam and Teal'c stood close by his side.

For a long minute, Daniel studied the group opposite them. Five men, all Jack's age or older. He was irresistibly reminded of Flemish burghers, especially because they sat or stood against the interior wall, away from the wash of light. He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and said in Italian, "Hello. We are peaceful travelers from another world, come to learn about your ways. My name is Daniel, and these are my friends, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c. Thank you for seeing us."

Silence. One man turned his head slightly, to glance at his compatriots, but said nothing. Daniel was about to speak again, when one of the seated men stood. "From which world do you come?"

"Earth. Midgaard. We are Tau'ri, do you know the term?" Without moving his head, the man conveyed ignorance. "Well. From very far away. We came through the stargate, through the chappa'ai. The stone ring?"

"Yes, we know of it." Again there came that utter silence, as if they were communicating with each other using some other means than speech. "You are soldiers."

"No. Well, yes, I mean, not me, but my friends are. I'm an anthropologist and linguist. I study other cultures and languages."

"That is a weapon you carry."

Daniel glanced at his sidearm, and bit his lip. "Yes, it is."

Jack lightly touched his elbow. "Translate, Daniel."

"They see that you're soldiers, although they don't seem too worried about your weapons."

"Shit."

"Maybe not."

"That one is different," another of the burghers said. "We have not seen his kind before."

"They've never seen a Jaffa," Daniel whispered quickly before responding. "Yes, he's from another world, different than ours. But he's our friend, and a good man." "A man of virtue" was what he literally told them.

"The woman is a soldier, too?"

"Yes. Quite high ranking, too, and a scientist as well."

More silence, as deep as the shadows around the men. Finally, the first one spoke again. "You may go within."

For a moment Daniel was puzzled, and then he realized that behind the men was another opening, so elaborate that he had taken it to be a wall decoration. However, when the burghers stepped aside, they revealed a wide passageway, almost the width of the wall, with the same triangular stones set in at each corner and at the center top. Beyond was an even larger room, with light falling from high windows in sharp diagonals. Another man sat, alone, his eyes gleaming in his face. His eyebrows were strong above his expressive eyes, and his generous lips were bracketed by firm lines.

Daniel stepped forward, only to be stopped by Jack. "Hello," he said over Jack's shoulder to the seated man. "I am Daniel."

The man stared at him, regal in his isolation and silence. After a moment, he rose and turned his back on them, walking toward another door. There he turned back. "Who is this man?" he finally asked, nodding at Jack.

Daniel gestured toward Jack. "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill. He is our commanding officer."

"I would speak with him."

"Come on, Jack. He wants to talk to you." The two moved forward, but the other man held up a hand.

"Only the leader."

"But how will you speak to him? He doesn't speak your language."

"Only him."

"I don't like this, Jack," Daniel whispered to him. Sam and Teal'c crowded around them. "He only wants you. How will you talk to him?"

"We shouldn't be split up, sir," Sam said urgently, and Teal'c nodded.

At last Jack shrugged. "Just for a minute. The three of you stay here; don't go anywhere. I'll stay in radio contact."

"Sir --"

"Jack --"

"Daniel. Major. I'll be all right. I'll just, I dunno, order some spaghetti."

Daniel clicked his tongue in annoyance, but Jack ignored him and followed the other man. When they'd disappeared through the doorway, Daniel turned back to the burghers. "Who was that?"

"Il governatore."

"Does he have a name?"

For a moment, he thought they'd pull a Tanith and say his name wasn't for the likes of them, but finally the first man said, "Niccolo."

"He resembled you strongly, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said when he turned back to them.

"He did, Daniel. And he reminded me of that statue we saw."

Daniel couldn't think of that now. He was too anxious for Jack, separated from the team. He stared at the doorway through which they'd gone, and wondered what was happening. Sam poked him. "Shouldn't you be talking to these guys?" And of course she was right. He took a deep breath and went back to his job.

Teal'c remained standing by the door through which Jack had followed the governor, while Sam stood near him, looking increasingly concerned. At last Daniel turned to them. "Shouldn't Jack be back? How long has it been?"

"Too long," Teal'c said.

"Gentlemen, where is Colonel O'Neill?" Daniel asked the governor's men, but they shrugged.

"With il governatore."

"Okay, that's it. Daniel, we're going after him. Tell these nice men goodbye."

Daniel thought Sam sounded more like Jack each passing day, but agreed with her. "Thank you," he said, bowing slightly as he backed up toward Teal'c. "But we have to find our commanding officer." Our friend, he added silently. The five men watched as they left, but no one tried to stop them.

The passageway they'd entered wound downwards in a spiral, with windows appearing regularly that looked out on the mountains but never toward the valley and lake. They saw no one for many levels, until they came to another broad archway. When they stepped through it, more Flemish burghers stood warily. "We are looking for Colonel O'Neill," Daniel announced, glad to have Teal'c and Sam at his back. "He came down those stairs with il governatore."

The men glanced at each other and sat back at the table where they'd been working over some papers. Daniel came nearer, wondering what their writing system looked like, but it was a map. "Where's Jack?" he asked. "The man you left with?"

Niccolo shrugged and bit into an apple. "He left."

"Daniel?" Sam tugged at him.

"He says that Jack _left_. I'm sorry," he continued in Italian, "but he wouldn't do that. Not willingly. Where did he go?"

"He made the choice."

"Yeah, fine, he chose, but where did he _go_?"

"To the necropolis."

"He says Jack went to the necropolis," Daniel muttered to his teammates.

"No way," Sam said firmly. "Can you imagine the colonel leaving us for any reason? Let alone to go to some cemetery?"

Daniel agreed. "I'm sorry, sir," he said as politely as he could, aware he was a stranger in a strange land, contradicting someone with a great deal of authority. "We find that difficult to believe. Where is he?"

The governor looked behind Daniel; he turned and saw the guard who'd led them here emerge from another doorway. "He will show you," the governor said lightly, and returned to the group studying the map.

"Will you take us to Jack? To the grey-haired man who was with us?"

The guard jerked his head and they followed him down yet another spiraling stairwell.

"Jack's knees must be killing him," Daniel said, trying to keep up his spirits. No one responded. Behind him, he heard Sam try the radio, calling for Jack. No one responded to that, either.

They clumped down the stairs for a long time. Daniel's knees were starting to ache by the time the guard led them through another wide archway and into a small stone square. It directly overlooked the steaming lake and red city. The guard paused and they filed past him, into the warm sun.

"Where is Jack?" Daniel asked him. The guard pointed toward the red city. "In the necropolis? I don't believe it; Jack would never go there."

"He chose."

"No, no, see, he wouldn't choose that." He turned to his teammates. "This guy says Jack went there, into that city."

"No way, Daniel," Sam said firmly, staring up at the guard. Teal'c stepped closer, looking threateningly at him.

"Listen," Daniel said, and then switched back to Italian. "Colonel O'Neill wouldn't leave us. He would never leave his team behind. And he would never go there."

"He made his choice," the guard repeated. There was a pause while Daniel wondered if he should have Teal'c punch the guy, then the guard continued. "You should go. Your face will open many doors." He vanished back up the stairs.

"Shit," Daniel said, staring after him. Then he turned to face the city. "I think we have to go."

Sam nodded, and he realized she was now in command. "Right away," she concurred. They wandered to the edge of the little courtyard they'd been brought to. Far below, they could see a road leading away from Placido and toward the necropolis. Teal'c pointed to their left, and they saw a narrow path from where they stood. It cut down the hill they were on before joining the stone road below them.

"Move out," Sam said, and took point. Teal'c waited for Daniel to follow her, and the three teammates left Placido as quickly as they could.

Once they'd scrambled down the steep climb and were walking on the road, Sam said, "What did that guy say to you at the end, Daniel?"

He felt himself blush. "He said that my face would open many doors."

She raised her eyebrows and studied him. "Well, you are good looking. Do you think that's what he meant?"

He shrugged. "Look at the road," he said, trying to divert her attention. "See how the stones are set so closely together, without any mortar? This is like the ancient Roman roads I've seen, only narrower. They travel for miles, straight as an arrow, never deviating from their destination."

"Well, they speak Italian here. It makes sense, doesn't it, that the Romans were here?"

"Yeah, it does. I'm just wondering how, and why. I mean, I haven't seen any sign of the Goa'uld, have you? Teal'c?"

"I have not."

"Maybe the Asgard?" Sam suggested. "We know that other species took humans, too, not just the Goa'uld."

"Yeah. Still. Creepy to think of entire civilizations lifted from earth and brought elsewhere to evolve. Like some sick biology experiment."

"If the colonel had said that, you'd be all over him," Sam pointed out.

"I wish he had said it," Daniel said softly, and she nodded.

They met no one on the road. Daniel stared down at it, noticing that each stone was slightly larger than a foot square, and had been laid carefully and snugly next to its neighbors. The road was about six feet in width, just enough room for the three of them to walk side by side. Cypress trees grew along side the road, shading them, and small plants had forced themselves between the pencil-thin line separating the paving stones from the smaller ones lining the road.

Ahead of them, the red city steamed. He lifted his eyes to study it, but the heat and smoke blurred his vision and it wavered as if a mirage. At last he said, "Your eyesight is better than mine, Teal'c. What do you see?"

"The walls are tall, but beyond them I see large buildings. Their windows glow with fire. People of some kind are working there, but I don't understand their movements."

"That's all?"

"That is all I see from here."

They came to a low stone fence, less than a foot tall, that interrupted the road they were on. It extended in either direction, curving around the hill that Placido sat on. "Look," Sam pointed. "It grows into the big wall we passed through." Daniel peered through his monocular and saw she was right; the low stone wall they could easily step over here gradually built up as it curled around the mountain Placido sat on, so anyone approaching from the other direction would have to pass through or under the wall, as they had when they'd entered.

"Does that make defensive sense?" he asked her.

"Not really. Not unless no one comes up this road to Placido."

Well, that is so not cheering, Daniel thought to himself, and stepped over the wall.

Immediately, the vegetation changed. No more graceful cypresses lined the road, and the smaller plants withered under the direct sunlight. It was hotter, too, and the smell of the water rose to meet them. Not sulfuric, as Daniel would have predicted, but bitter, like bile in the throat. They saw no one on their trek to the city.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder; the white walls of Placido rose behind them as they walked down the road. He wondered if Jack really had gone this way, or if they were being tricked. Not that they'd had much choice -- for all purposes, they'd been kicked out of Placido. He sighed and looked ahead of him. As they approached the red city, clouds of steam boiled overhead, blocking sun, yet still it grew hotter. He was sweating even more than when they'd climbed the mountain the day before.

Sam stumbled, and Daniel caught her arm. "Shit," she said, and kicked at the stones.

"Subsidence," Daniel said, and knelt to poke his finger between two cracked stones. "See? The ground is sinking here."

"What's it mean, Daniel?"

He shook his head. "Earthquakes, maybe. Certainly the hot springs could indicate that." He stood. "Not much we can do but go on."

Teal'c stepped forward, and then looked back at them. "We must proceed. O'Neill is down there."

Daniel agreed, and followed Teal'c, still holding Sam's arm, as much for his comfort as her safety. The stones grew more cracked and unstable as they neared the lake. Overhead, the clouds of steam boiled and sank lower, until he felt moisture bead on his face. Like a sauna, he thought, but nastier. A lot nastier.

Teal'c held up his hand and they froze. "The road ends," he said, and Daniel peered over his shoulder. The road did end. It dribbled out to nothing, the stones shattered into pebbles. Water bubbled up through the gravelly soil, and Daniel wrinkled his nose at the stink. "We must proceed cautiously." He looked back at Daniel and Sam. "Step where I do," he instructed them.

Carefully, he stepped into the loose earth; his boot sank nearly an inch and made a sucking noise when he pulled it out and swung his foot forward. Sam indicated Daniel should go next, and he precisely fit his foot into Teal'c's print, following as closely as he could. Sam was right behind him, hanging on to the back of his sweaty tee shirt.

They walked for a long way in single file, Teal'c leading them. He paused periodically, to reconnoiter before moving on. At one stop, Daniel nearly stumbled and grabbed onto Teal'c's shirt, then continued to hang on. No one spoke, except when a gas bubble broke through the gravel near them; he and Sam said, "Eeuwww," at the same time, and then laughed a little, in disgust and fearful amusement.

"I can go no further," Teal'c said suddenly. Daniel again looked over his shoulder and saw that the land was becoming submerged. Any further and they'd be walking in the smoky water, made even less appealing by the reflection of the red city's walls.

"It's an island," Sam said in his ear, and he jumped.

"How are we gonna get across? How did Jack get across?" he wondered. Had they come so far for nothing? Had this been an elaborate ruse to get them out of Placido? But why? And where was Jack?

"Look," Teal'c said, pointing to their left. Daniel saw a small pier. Teal'c had them back up a bit and then angled to their left, heading toward the pier. Daniel leaned to one side, looking out into the water, trying to see through the steam, but he couldn't do that and manage the hike through the cloying mud tugging at his boots.

At last, Teal'c climbed onto the pier and helped each of them up. Daniel stomped on the planks; it seemed sturdily built, though obviously very old. The posts were splintered and weather-beaten, and the rope hanging from a rusty ring was feathery and aged. "Now what?" he wondered aloud.

Sam sat down and opened her canteen. "Drink up," she ordered, and Daniel remembered again that she was in charge. Well, it was a good idea, so he sat next to her and drank deeply. The water was warm, but tasted delicious after sucking down the acrid air he'd been breathing for the last hour. He tightened the cap on the water bottle and then looked behind him at Placido. Perhaps two miles back and far above them, it was barely visible through the steam, and looked luxuriously overgrown in comparison to this dying plain.

He turned back when he heard splashing. Teal'c was staring out into the water, and Sam leaned forward attentively. "What?" he asked, taking off his glasses to scrub them with his tee shirt.

"Someone comes," Teal'c said, and stood, holding his staff weapon at the ready. Daniel helped Sam up and they too drew their weapons.

A battered rowboat appeared through the caustic fog; Daniel could hear its oarlocks squeak each time the boatman swung back the oars. They watched in silence as he pulled nearer, and Daniel saw a very old man, hands gnarled with arthritis, working the oars. Well, he was the official meet-n-greeter, he reminded himself, so he called out, "Hello! We are peaceful explorers from another world, come to learn your customs." And find our friend, he added silently.

The old man shipped the oars and tossed the rope to Teal'c, who caught it neatly and tied it through the ring. "No," the old man said crossly. "I ain't staying here. I gotta go back. You comin'?"

Daniel turned to Sam, who was staring wide-eyed at him. After a few seconds, he said, "Yes. Yes, we're coming," and started to scramble into the boat. The old man picked up an oar and pushed at him. "Hey!"

"Not so fast there. Costs to go across, you know."

"Shit," he heard Sam whisper.

"We have none of your currency," Teal'c called.

"Well, then you ain't coming across, eh? Push me off there, wouldja?"

"Wait!" Daniel fumbled through his pockets until he pulled out the bronze coin he'd found when he'd dug the latrine. "Here ­- will this be enough to take us all across?"

He tossed the coin to the boatman, who studied it thoughtfully, even biting it. "Heh. Can't give you any change, y'know."

"That's all right. We just want across. And back again." Might as well barter.

"It ain't worth that much!"

"It is, and more, and you know it. Come on, you're making a nice profit."

The boatman stared at the coin a bit longer. "Haven't seen one o' these in donkey's years," he muttered, and then pocketed the coin. "There and back, for the three of ya."

"Four coming back, or give me my coin." The old man pursed his mouth, wrinkling his face even more. Daniel saw he was trembling slightly, from palsy or maybe some strong emotion. "It's worth more than that," he said again. "I'll have my friend here take it back from you, and the boat, too." Teal'c leaned over the boat menacingly.

"All right, all right. Get in. Don't got all day." He mumbled to himself; Daniel assumed he was swearing.

"Come on, guys," he told the others, and carefully stepped down into the boat, then turned to help Sam into it, and then Teal'c, the boat wobbling precariously. When they were all seated, Daniel looked at the boatman from his seat in the bow. "Let's go."

The boatman spit over the side and grasped his oars, and they slipped away from the shore and into the rust-red waters, steam billowing around them. Sam and Teal'c sat side by side, facing Daniel, and behind them the boatman, grunting heavily with each pull of the oars. And beyond the boatman lay the red city, glowing through the corrosive mist. With each stroke, it grew nearer.

The walls rose straight from the water, and Daniel couldn't tell if they reflected the water's color, or if the water was reflecting the wall's red tones. Light wavered across the wall, made of stones in the same roughly square shape as the road had been. At the top of the walls, heavy chains looped from massive post to massive post, and a low rumbling shivered the waters around them. Daniel could feel it, deep in his chest.

"What's that noise?" he asked the boatman, who shrugged.

"The city."

Daniel looked at Sam and Teal'c, but they were staring over their shoulders at the city behind them. He wished Jack were with them, cracking jokes, asking about the fishing. But of course, if Jack were with them, they wouldn't be here, and he wouldn't be wishing for Jack.

At last, they bumped into another pier, this one made of stone and very low, water splashing onto it. "All out," the boatman said laconically. Teal'c stepped out carefully, then held out his hand for Sam, pulling her up lightly and then setting her behind him before reaching out for Daniel. When he stood, the boatman instantly pushed off. "How will we find you when we're ready to leave?"

The boatman laughed. "No one leaves the city. No one." Daniel watched as he rowed away into the mist.

Daniel turned to his friends. Sam looked greenish in the awful light. "Are you okay?"

"A little seasick, I think."

"We must go," Teal'c reminded them, and they turned to face the city. Enormous steps were carved out of the wall, each one nearly two feet high. Sam went first; Daniel's heart went out to her, for her courage, and he knew he'd follow her straight to hell. He began to climb, Teal'c right behind him.

His knees ached as much as Jack complained about his by the time they reached the top of the wall, and he groaned as he swung his leg over the final step. "Thank god," he muttered, and took a deep breath, only to cough. His allergies were going to kill him before they got off this island.

He looked around. They stood on a broad boulevard that apparently circled the city. Narrower avenues and covered passageways led off into the interior. He could feel right through his boots the deep thrum he'd noticed on the water. Periodically, metal grates pierced the street they stood on, and plumes of the caustic steam billowed up. He was hot and sweaty and dirty.

"All right," Sam caught his attention. "Standard search pattern. Daniel, to the right. Teal'c, that way. I'll go left."

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think standard search patterns would work here, Sam. We need to find someone to ask. Surely someone has to live here." He hoped.

"I agree with Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said confidently. "We should not be separated."

"I'm in command," Sam protested, but Daniel shook his head.

"Sam, we're not on some empty moon. This is a city, a, a _maze_ of a city, from what I can see. It would be dangerous to separate."

Her mouth tightened, but at last she nodded.

"This way," Teal'c said. "I hear many voices."

They walked along the boulevard. Daniel looked out toward Placido, but could see only smoke and an occasional glimpse of the distant shore. It was as dark as early evening here, even though he knew it was only mid-afternoon. He pulled at his shirt sleeve and wiped his face, but it felt as though he were grinding the dirt into his skin.

As they walked along the curve of the boulevard, a group of people came into sight. Daniel was having trouble seeing and tilted his head this way and that before realizing that they were having sex. Public sex. Group sex. Sam stopped abruptly, and tugged on Teal'c's arm. "Wait," she whispered, as if they could hear her.

Daniel studied them. It was a furious kind of love-making. Fucking, he decided. No love in this activity at all. They flung themselves at each other: men on men, women on men, and women on women, naked and rolling over each other, thrusting, biting, sucking, and fucking. A whole lotta fucking, he heard Jack's voice say, and agreed.

"We must ask them," Teal'c said, but Sam shook her head. She stared at the ground in front of her. "I will ask them."

"Be careful," she whispered. Daniel was so embarrassed for her, but still very curious, so he tried to watch surreptitiously as Teal'c approached the group. He could hear the rumble of Teal'c's voice through the high-pitched shouts and moans. "I can't believe these people would know where the colonel was," Sam muttered to him, not meeting his eyes.

"I know, Sam," he whispered back, "but we have to try."

At length, Teal'c returned, his face dark with disapproval. "These people were not helpful. We must look for others."

They walked around the mob, skirting them as much as they could, with Sam the farthest from them, with Daniel and Teal'c between them and her. Daniel couldn't resist studying them, though. They lay on the ground, on tables, they straddled chairs and each other. He could hear them gasping and groaning as they ground into each other, and saw bite marks and slaps on their reddened skin. Holy shit, he thought as they passed them, but was too embarrassed to let Sam see him watch them any more.

"That was disgusting," she said firmly when they were well beyond them.

"Well, it was different. Teal'c, did they say anything to you?"

He set his jaw. "No," he said, and Daniel knew he was lying, and could only guess what offers had been made to him.

"Maybe it's some holiday," he speculated, half curious and half trying to lighten the mood. "Some fertility festival, or religious cult."

"Daniel," Sam said, more sharply than was her wont. "Please. Not now." He nodded his head.

"Look," he pointed. Down one of the covered alleyways leading off the boulevard, there was a cafe with chairs and tables spilling out into the street. He could hear people talking, but it seemed fairly innocent. No one was fucking in the street at least.

"Let's try them," Sam said, and Teal'c led the way to the cafe.

"Hello," Daniel tried again. A few people looked up, but most ignored him, continuing their conversation. "We are peaceful explorers from another world." A few more looked up at that, including a man with a dirty white towel tied around his waist, like an apron.

"Antonio!" he called, looking indoors. "Visitors."

"Ah, ah," said someone Daniel presumed was Antonio. "Welcome to my cafe! What may I serve you?"

"We're looking for a teammate," Sam said sternly. "He was taken here against his will. His name is Jack O'Neill. He's about six two --" she looked at Daniel, who nodded -- "and has short grey hair. Have you seen him?"

"I have seen many people, my lady. None of them come here of their own volition, for who would come here? But here we are, are we not? And so we drink and talk; what better way to spend the time. May I offer you some wine?"

"No, I'm sorry. We have to find the colonel."

"Come back, then, when you have found him. I have the perfect wine for a woman as beautiful as you." Sam blushed, and Antonio laughed and clapped his hands. "You have two good men, my lady; why need you a third? Or if you insist, then why not me? I'm as good as two jacks; ask anyone here!"

"Let us go," Teal'c said firmly, and took Sam by the hand. As if claiming possession, Daniel thought, and glanced back at Antonio.

"If not the lady, then you, fine sir?"

"Um, no, thank you," Daniel called, and hurried after Teal'c and Sam, blushing at the laughter following him.

"Does anybody in this city think of anything besides sex?" Sam asked, sounding frustrated. Daniel knew she was embarrassed; hell, he was embarrassed, too. This was just an all-round embarrassing mission, and the sooner they found Jack and left, the happier he'd be. No naquadah, but no Goa'uld, either. Just the remnants of an earth society that had long since lost its connection to home.

Ahead of Sam and Teal'c, Daniel saw two people standing, almost leaning against each other, shouting violently. The teammates slowed, and Daniel wondered what they should do. Go forward and try to pass unmolested? Ask them about Jack? Then one punched the other and the decision was made for him. Teal'c sprang forward and grabbed them both, giving them a good shake.

"Speak to me!" he bellowed. "Have you seen a human by the name of O'Neill? We seek him here."

The taller of the two men tried to shake off Teal'c, but his grasp was too firm. "Let me go, you bastard. You some cousin of this animal?"

"Not mine, asshole, and you, too; let me _go_!"

"I will not until you speak with us. Have you seen O'Neill?"

"I don't even know what an O'Neill is," the second one said sullenly, shrugging his shoulders, trying to slip away from Teal'c.

"Let me go and I'll take you to him," the first one said.

"You are a liar." Teal'c shook them again and then pushed them away from him. "How can I find my friend?"

The second one laughed. "He's no friend or he wouldn't be here. No one has friends here!" Both men roared with laughter, and then the second one punched the first one in the face; blood spurted from his nose as he clapped his hands over his face. Teal'c stepped away in disgust, and they left the two men fighting in the street.

"Daniel," Sam said a few minutes later. "I can understand the language. That doesn't make sense."

Daniel felt his jaw drop. "No," he said slowly. "It doesn't. What language do you think they're speaking?"

"English."

"Goa'uld," Teal'c said firmly.

"I'm hearing Italian."

They walked in silence for a while, then Sam said, "There must be some alien technology here." Well, duh, Daniel thought, but said nothing. He couldn't imagine technology that would make language transparent; language didn't work that way. Yet clearly Sam and Teal'c were understanding what the people on this island said, whereas they could not on the mainland.

"Fuck it," he finally said. Sam looked surprised to hear his profanity. "It doesn't matter. It just helps things -- three of us to ask instead of only me. We need to talk to more people."

"What people?" Teal'c asked, but Daniel had no answer.

He realized that the passageway was sinking steadily. Like San Francisco and Rome, this city appeared to be built on hills, and they were climbing down one now. The cobblestoned street became rocky steps, so precarious they had to clung to the rusticated walls of the buildings as they clambered down. "Did I mention I'm not fond of heights?" Daniel asked, and Sam gave him a sympathetic smile before returning her attention to the descent.

Finally the hill leveled out and they stood on relatively horizontal land again. They stopped for a moment, to drink some water and rest their knees, looking around them curiously. Daniel couldn't see or hear a soul and wondered yet again how they'd find Jack. It was just an island, but the city seemed to completely cover it in mazes and alleyways and narrow paths meandering between the towering buildings.

"Okay," Sam said at last, straightening her cap. "We're just wandering around. We need a system." She turned to look up the stairs they'd just descended. "We probably should've gone back to the main street, the one circling the city." Daniel groaned at the thought of climbing all those steps. "Yeah," she said ruefully. "Now I think of it."

"Let's keep going. We have to meet someone sometime. What are all these buildings for? Someone's keeping the streets clean. Kind of," he added, noticing that the street they were in really wasn't very clean. Diseased-looking grasses sprouted between the cobblestones, and the gutters were muddy. Still, no human-looking trash lay on the ground. Of course, that might mean no humans were here, he thought, and sighed.

"I agree. We must proceed," Teal'c said, surprising Daniel. Teal'c was looking at Sam, his mouth set in a straight line. "Major Carter, we must continue to search for O'Neill."

"All right, Teal'c," she said, and they set off yet again. The cobblestones were shattered here; more subsidence, Daniel saw. His practiced eye took in the discolored walls of the buildings lining the narrow street, stained with the steam that seeped from cracks in the ground. The air stank and his eyes burned; he was grimy with sweat and dirt and whatever chemicals polluted the air.

"Major Carter," Teal'c called out sharply, and Daniel hurried to his side, trying not to trip over the loose stones under his feet. Teal'c pointed with his staff weapon to a group of men and a few women. They could be seen through a casement window at nearly ground level, the yellow light spilling out onto the street. Their voices rose and fell as they leaned over a large table, studying something there. The tableau reminded Daniel of the burghers in Placido, some hint of conspiracy and muted anger rising from them like steam from the soil beneath him.

"How can we get in?" Sam asked, and Daniel led the way down worn steps to a door hanging crookedly from its broken hinges. He hesitated for a second, and then stepped into the building. Light and voices guided him to the room they'd seen from above.

"Hello," he started again. "We are peaceful travelers from another world."

"We seek our friend," Teal'c interrupted him abruptly, and Daniel stepped aside in surprise. "Can you help us?"

There was along silence as the people crowding around the table looked back at them in surprised hostility. Then a tall woman asked sardonically, "Do you seek revenge?"

Daniel opened his mouth to say no but Teal'c said, "Yes. With all my heart."

She smiled, and Daniel wouldn't have been surprised if she'd revealed fangs. "Then enter, friend, and welcome."

Teal'c shoved through the crowd to her side. "You will help us?"

"We seek revenge. Join us." She turned back to the table and picked up two glasses, handing one to Teal'c. He hesitated but accepted it, and she raised her glass in a toast. "To right the wrongs." They both drank, and slammed the glasses down.

"Teal'c?" Daniel asked uncertainly. Teal'c raised his hand preemptively, but said nothing. "Sam . . ." She was staring at Teal'c, and he realized that she didn't know what to do. Oh, Jack, he thought. We are so out of our league here. "Sam, do something. You're in charge, uh, in command."

"Teal'c," she said, but he heard a tremor in her voice.

Teal'c turned toward them, but left one hand resting on the table behind him. "Major Carter. You must go on. I will learn how to avenge ourselves for what has been done. You will find O'Neill and return for me. Then we will destroy our enemies."

"Who are our enemies?" Daniel asked when Sam didn't reply.

"Daniel Jackson, you have suffered more than any of us. Must you ask? Your wife, your brother, your friend Sara, and now O'Neill. All will be avenged." He put his hands on Daniel's shoulders and bent over to kiss his forehead. "I promise you, little brother, I will avenge the wrongs done to you. Go." And he dismissed them.

"Jesus, Teal'c," Daniel started, but Sam clutched at his hand.

"Let's go, Daniel. Let's get out of here." She tugged and he reluctantly followed her back up to street level.

"Sam, we can't leave Teal'c. You know Jack never leaves anyone behind."

"That's just it, Daniel. Colonel O'Neill isn't here. I can't make Teal'c leave; you saw him. We have to find the colonel; he'll get Teal'c back. I know he will."

Daniel stared at his friend in concern; she didn't sound at all like herself. She was as sweaty and dirty as he was, her hair stuck out in damp spikes, and her tee shirt was smeared with grime. She clung to his hand in a way he didn't associate with her strength and confidence. At last, he said, "All right, Sam. We'll go on."

She sagged in relief. "The colonel should have listened to me," she whispered to him, and he put his arm around her comfortingly.

"We'll find him," he whispered back, and guided her down the street, into the dark pooled at the end of it, where it turned to the left and led them deeper into the heart of the city.

Daniel couldn't understand why Teal'c had stayed. Was the idea of revenge so sweet to him? Some Jaffa-revenge thing, as Jack had called it? He turned back, trying to see where they'd left him, promising himself he'd come back, with Jack, and get him. It made no sense. Nothing made sense here.

The deeper they advanced, the darker it grew. Stone bridges stretched overhead, knitting the buildings together, and above them Daniel saw dark clouds bubbling evilly, some storm brewing to bring them more misery.

They passed other groups of people, some arguing, some gambling with dice, some drunk and passed out on the street, but they'd given up approaching any of them for help. Daniel realized they'd have to search every inch of this city themselves if they wanted to find Jack.

And Sam was different here, too. Shaken by Teal'c's desertion, he saw, and frightened by the city and its inhabitants. And angry at Jack for leaving them, for not following her advice. He wondered how much was due to exhaustion and hunger and how much to the oppressive atmosphere in which they labored. He heard a whistle in his chest and knew his allergies and asthma were kicking in; not surprising, in such a repugnant environment. He remembered Janet telling him that asthma was stress-related, too, and sighed, wishing he were back in her sterile infirmary, undergoing some obnoxious test. His feet hurt, too, from walking on the hard, hot ground.

He was about to suggest they stop for a break when he saw a yet another group of people, seated at a long table. Candles gleamed on it, and he saw they were mostly women, near Sam's age. A few young and handsome men sat with them, all looking very intense and serious. They looked, he thought, like Sam in her lab. "Look, Sam," he said softly, and she raised her head.

"They'll just be like the others."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Won't know till we try." She looked so dispirited; he wasn't sure what to do. "Come on, Major," he said, lightly pinching her upper arm. She gave him a weak smile, but straightened her back and marched forward toward them.

"Hello," she called. "We are peaceful travelers from another world, come to find our teammate."

The women at the table turned their heads toward her, and Daniel realized they couldn't see them in the dark. One woman rose and peered at them. "Who are you?" she challenged.

"My name is Samantha Carter, and this is my friend, Daniel Jackson. Will you help us?"

"Sit with us, please," the woman said, and the others rearranged themselves to make room at the table. Two glasses appeared, and a pitcher of wine was offered them.

Daniel put his hand over the top of his glass. "No, thank you." He looked meaningfully at Sam, who slowly nodded.

"No, none for me, either," she said, and Daniel felt his shoulders droop in relief.

"Whom do you seek?" one of the men asked.

"Our commanding officer. He was forced to leave Placido and sent here. We've come to retrieve him."

This caused a stir at the table. The first woman said, "To my knowledge, no one has ever returned from here once banished from Placido. I've never even heard of someone trying to leave."

"We mean to," Daniel said firmly.

"I am Casta," said the first woman as they sat. "We will help you find your friend. Tell us about him."

"He's tall, a little taller than Daniel here. Uh, grey hair, brown eyes."

"No, no. Tell us about _him_. The man he is."

Sam looked uncertainly at Daniel, who said, "He's a good man. He has a strong moral code."

"He always knows what you should do?" Casta asked Daniel.

"Yes. He's a good commanding officer."

"Do you obey him?"

Daniel felt himself blush. "Well, most of the time. I'm not military myself, so, and, um, I think really it's my job to, um . . . "

Casta turned her attention to Sam. "Do you obey him?"

"Yes. He's my CO. I'm under his command."

The women at the table murmured and looked at each other, their faces glowing in the candle light. The three men dropped their heads; Casta put her arm around the man sitting next to her. "We know that kind of man," she said, her voice husky with emotion. "They always know best, and we are compelled to obey, regardless of what we think or desire."

"Yes," Sam said intently, sitting forward, putting her elbows on the table. "If I'd been in charge, I would never have let him leave, and we wouldn't be chasing after him now."

"They won't listen," the woman sitting next to Sam said, and she nodded.

"He _never_ listens to me. Doesn't even ask my advice. And if I try to explain anything to him, his eyes glaze over."

"Sam," Daniel protested, embarrassed for her and for Jack.

"No, Daniel. You know it's true. He does it to you, too."

"Well, maybe, a little, but I can argue back. It's not like that."

"It's not like that for you, maybe, but it is for me. You said it yourself, Daniel. You're not military. But I am. I'm compelled to obey, even when I know the orders are short-sighted or plain wrong."

"Sam," Daniel began again, but she turned away from him and to the others at the table. He stared at them in disbelief, horror growing upon him. They'd lost Teal'c; would he lose Sam, too?

"They have neither our education nor our intelligence," one of the men was saying, "yet they're put in charge of _us_. And if we argue, they tell us not to worry our pretty heads."

"Jack _never_ told you that," Daniel tried to say, but no one listened.

The others groaned in recognition. "I loved him," one woman said, and put her hands to her face. "I still love him, but I can't obey him. I have to, I'm required to, but I just can't."

"No, no, you mustn't," Casta comforted her, while another woman poured her more wine. Sam pushed her glass forward.

"No, Sam," Daniel reached for the glass. "You mustn't eat or drink anything here."

Sam looked at him disdainfully. "You're not my CO," she said. "I don't have to obey you."

"No, of course not, but please, Sam, oh, Sam, no," he said as she took a sip.

"It's good," she said in surprise. "Sweet." She took another, deeper drink. "Oh my god, this is just what I needed. Daniel?" He shook his head. How could this be happening?

He sat with them a while longer, listening to their complaints and dreams. At last he gently touched Sam's shoulder. "I'm going to go now," he told her. "I need to find Jack."

"Why not wait here? They said they'd help us."

"They never will, Sam. Don't you see? They'll be here for all eternity, rehashing past injuries. We need to go now, before something happens to Jack."

"Something did happen to him," she pointed out, sipping the wine. "He chose to leave us. He ordered us to stay behind. Maybe I'm obeying his orders." The others laughed at this, and Daniel flushed.

"That's not fair, Sam, and you know it."

"Maybe it isn't, but it's how I feel. I want to stay here a while longer. Stay or go; it's your choice."

He stared at her face, stern as a goddess in the flickering light. "Please come with me," he tried one last time.

She shook her head, deliberately, firmly, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You're my little brother," she said softly. "I love you, Daniel. But the colonel made his decision. If nothing else, respect that."

"I don't believe it was his decision to leave us."

She shrugged, and turned away, moving her entire body so her back was to him. Her message couldn't be clearer.

He rose. A few people looked up, and one of the men called, "Goodbye!" He nodded, and then left the glowing circle, returning to the darkness.

He was so tired. His feet were dragging, and they burned inside his Air Force issued boots, which were admittedly nicer than any he'd ever owned before, but still big and clunky and so _hot_. He was hot. The waistband of his trousers was soaked, and big rings of sweat had grown under his arms and around his throat. Even over the fetid air, he could tell that he stank.

He couldn't understand Sam's desertion, of him and of their search for Jack. Was she so angry? Did she feel so disrespected by Jack?

And where was Jack? How the fuck was he supposed to find Jack? And then tell him that Teal'c and then Sam had abandoned him. Jesus. He felt near despair. He stopped suddenly, and leaned against the stone wall, feeling it slick with grease and grime under his shoulder but no longer caring. He was tired and thirsty and hungry and alone, always alone.

He pushed wearily off and headed down the disintegrating street, the broken cobblestones crunching loudly under his boots. The light had completely gone and he could see only by the dim red glow of the buildings and an occasional window streaming candle light. The street ended abruptly, and he turned in a helpless circle until he found a narrow walkway leading to his left and down.

Funny, he thought as he stumbled along, how in Placido no one had offered them any hospitality, yet here, in this dismal place, they'd been offered refreshments several times. Surely that had some significance, but he was too tired to figure out what. Yet he knew he shouldn't eat or drink anything here, he just somehow knew it.

The path ended abruptly, and again he searched for another way. Finally he remembered his flashlight, and flicked it on. The tiny beam made the night seem even darker and more ominous, and he felt a rumble beneath his feet. It occurred to him that he must be far below the waterline; certainly the air was steamy enough to believe the city bubbled within the cauldron of a hot lake or sea. Then he caught glimpse of a slim passageway, just a space between two buildings set askew, and he slipped through, into even greater darkness and heat.

There was a constant moaning now, as if the earth itself were expressing its misery and unhappiness. He slid along the narrow opening, just putting one foot in front of the other and trying to imagine Jack. He'd be surprised, no, maybe not. Pissed, though. Yeah, he'd be pissed. Daniel wished he could think of something witty or sarcastic to use as a greeting. Hey there, sailor -- not exactly what he was hoping for. He'd have to trust to the moment.

The air grew hotter, as if he were walking toward a furnace. His little light bobbed against the filthy wall; when he pointed it down, he saw he was walking in a gutter, wet and caked with mud and what he was sure was shit. It certainly smelled like shit. His shoulders brushed against the walls on either side, scraping his skin until it felt even hotter.

The slot ended, of course, as every path had ended. He couldn't even turn in a circle here. He tilted his head back and looked up, hoping for a glimpse of sky or star, something to wish upon, but there was only the lowering red glow of the steam or fog rising from the guts of the island.

There was no place left to go.

He winched himself around, tripping over his own feet, so he could retrace his steps. As he did so, he saw a tiny glimmer of light, just a flash, from the corner of his eye. Looked at directly, it was nothing, but from his peripheral vision, he could see a window, set very low. He knelt awkwardly in the tight space and shone the flashlight through it. At his touch, the window slid to the left, and he lay down in the hot mud and shit and slipped his legs through it, folding in half before pushing off.

There was a drop, long enough to frighten him but short enough not to hurt when his feet hit bottom. He staggered, and then turned, shining the light around him. Again from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of something glowing, and he moved cautiously toward it. Another passageway. He realized he was outdoors, kind of; although under a building, there were no walls, just an expanse of dying earth stretching on. He steered toward the light as best he could, and eventually could see it straight on. Flickering, like a small fire, a beacon of hope in a hopeless land.

And as if he'd been drawn, as if he'd known the way, he arrived to find Jack feeding small twigs to the fire. He sat with his long legs bent at the knees, his head bowed down, nearly resting on those bony knees, staring into the fire. Daniel stood and watched him. At last, he stepped around the fire and sat next to him.

"I know you're not real," Jack said, "so just piss off, okay?"

"I am real," Daniel said, and Jack's head popped up. His face was filthy, streaked with dirt that was streaked with sweat. He stank as badly as Daniel knew he must, and his uniform was torn and stained. His baseball cap was missing and his grey hair shimmered in the firelight.

"You came."

"You doubted?"

"Naw." Jack tossed another twig in the fire, and Daniel saw his mouth had curled into a shy smile. "Naw, I knew that if anybody could find me, it'd be you, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, smiling to himself, and sighed. "How'd you get here?"

"They sent me. That king. Governor. I, uh, I took something of his."

Daniel looked back up from the fire at him. Jack had stolen something? "What? What could you have taken to deserve this?"

Jack laughed mirthlessly, and pulled from his pocket two narrow spiked leaves. Daniel put his hand around Jack's and pulled it closer to his face. "What is it?"

"Lavender. From the governor's garden."

"A sacred herb of midsummer," Daniel whispered. "Banishes guilt."

"Daniel, am I -- are we dead?"

"No, Jack." Daniel put his hand on Jack's. "We're fine. Just a very long way from home."

"Yeah. Long ways. Uh, is anybody else here?"

"Who?"

"Aw, nobody. Just wonderin'."

After a moment, Daniel took the two leaves from Jack's hands and pressed them flat, so they lay together. Then he set them into the fire. "Watch," he told Jack. The smell rose, fresh and sweet, a reminder of the wider world, as the leaves crackled and burned. But they stayed together and merged in their tiny conflagration, until there were only ashes left.

"What's that mean?" Jack whispered.

"A harmonious relationship."

"Ours?" Jack sounded more like his old self.

"I guess. Nobody else here."

"Harmonious."

"Yeah. Jack, we need to go. We need to get Sam and Teal'c and then leave this place."

"Can we?" Jack looked carefully at Daniel. "I got the idea that nobody could leave this place."

"Well, we are," he said firmly, and took Jack's hand again. "Come on. Up you go. It's a long way back, and we've got to find the others. Jack," he added quickly. "Have you had anything to eat or drink here?"

"Just water and a granola bar."

"Nothing anyone here gave you."

"No. Why?"

"No reason. Just a feeling I have. Promise you won't, no matter what's offered you."

"Okay. I guess, if you think it's important."

"I do. Now come on, Colonel O'Neill. Start marching."

"Wait, I'm supposed to give the orders."

"Not tonight. Tonight it's my turn, okay?"

Jack smiled at him, exhausted, his teeth gleaming in the firelight, and Daniel slid his arm around Jack's waist to guide him back up the long incline. But when Jack tried to rise, his legs collapsed. "Hey, hey," Daniel said, easing him back down. "Let's try it again in a minute."

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"I can't leave."

Daniel studied Jack more carefully. Behind the filth, the relieved smile, the exhaustion, he saw something else. "What is it, Jack? Why can't you leave?"

"I don't know. But I can't."

Daniel tapped his fingers against his thigh, and sighed. "Okay. Did someone tell you that? How did you get here?"

"I don't really remember."

He settled back. "Tell me what you do remember. We were in Placido, meeting the governor, Niccolo. He said he had to speak with you, and you agreed." Suddenly Daniel was angry. "Dammit, Jack. You never would've let me or Sam go. Why did you go with that guy?"

Jack shook his head. "I had to. I -- he." He looked helplessly at Daniel, who felt his heart turn over in fear and pity. "I had to, Daniel."

"Okay. You had to. So you left the room and went where -- down all those stairs?"

"Yeah, I remember them all right." He rubbed his knees in memory. "On and on. When we got to the bottom, there was a little patio, really hot. He told me that I'd stolen from him. I told him he was fulla shit, but he pointed to my pocket. Then I remembered the lavender."

He looked at Daniel. "I only took two leaves. It smelled sweet, and reminded me of Sara. I just -- just two leaves, Daniel. How'd he know? I mean, how'd he even know?"

Daniel patted Jack's shoulder and tried to remember what little herbal lore he knew. Lavender. From the Latin _lavare_, to wash. Associated with love and purification, with happiness, and with peace. A holy plant in many cultures, including Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, and Roman.

Associated with love, passion, and forgiveness. Used to resist infection and to treat depression.

He sighed again, and said, "I don't know, Jack. Some alien technology, I suppose." He heard Sam's voice in his head and almost smiled, until he remembered that he'd lost Sam. "Jack, Sam and Teal'c came with me to find you, but they met people who kept them behind." This might work, he realized. "You have to leave, if only to help me find them again."

"They're here, too? Everyone's here?"

Daniel stopped patting and started rubbing Jack's shoulder. "It's okay, we'll get them back. But I need your help. Come on, Jack. Try. There's nothing keeping you here. I don't see any chains, we're not huddling in a cage, it's just us. Around a campfire. How many times have we sat like this? On how many worlds? This is just one more. Come on, Jack." Daniel heard a note of pleading enter his voice, but he didn't care. "Please, Jack. Try. For me." He stood and offered Jack his hands.

Jack stared at him, then dropped his eyes to study Daniel's hands. He reached up and took them, and Daniel could feel his pulse beating furiously. "Oh, Jack," he said, and knelt again to embrace his friend. "Don't be afraid," he whispered. "Let's just go."

"I don't remember how."

He pulled Jack into an even tighter embrace, gently rocking him. The stones beneath his knees cut into his skin, right through the heavy fabric of his BDUs, but he hung on. "It's okay. You don't have to remember. You just have to trust me. Let me do all the work, okay?"

Jack tried to stand again, leaning heavily against Daniel, but he couldn't move his legs. Daniel even bent over and tried to lift his foot, tugging at it while Jack leaned over him, but nothing happened. Nothing. It was as though Jack had grown roots.

Daniel sat back with another deep sigh. "Sorry," Jack said, looking embarrassed. Daniel could see that, even under the dirt and sweat, he was blushing. He patted Jack's knee.

"So we'll stay a while. I'm tired, anyway. Let's get some rest." Jack nodded, looking as miserable as Daniel could remember. To his pleasure, to his fear, Jack leaned against Daniel again, so the weight of his body rested against Daniel's shoulder. Daniel put his arm around Jack and pulled him back a little. "Just rest," he said again, hoping he sounded soothing and not idiotic. He felt Jack take a deep breath and, when he released it, felt his muscle tension decrease.

The fire burned weakly, illuminating the dismal ground where they sat. The earth around them was cracked, as if by drought, yet muddy water glinted in the cracks. The stink was heavy here, and he wondered how far below water level they were.

Without realizing it, he began to hum, to comfort himself, and Jack, too. He became aware he was singing an old Beatles tune below his breath, almost speaking the words. When Jack relaxed even further, he smiled to himself. "There are places I remember," he whispered huskily, "all my life though some have changed. Some forever not for better, some have gone and some remain." He forgot the rest of the lyrics, but hummed breathlessly, the weight of Jack in his arms as comforting as the song.

Just when Daniel thought Jack had fallen asleep, he whispered, "My fault."

"No, it isn't, Jack. It's that asshole Niccolo's."

"Mine. Wanted to go before you."

Daniel froze, trying to understand Jack's words. He shifted his position, so he could cross his arms around Jack's chest. "Just sleep."

"You understand?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay? That I want to go before you do?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry."

"Shh, shh. Go to sleep, Jack. It'll be okay."

Sorry, he thought he heard, but it might have been the hissing of a green twig in the fire. He felt Jack slip into sleep, suddenly heavier against him. "I love you more," he whispered into the fetid gloom.

Indefinable hours later, when Jack stirred, Daniel released him, not wanting to embarrass him further. "Hey."

"Hey." Jack sniffed deeply and rubbed his face. "Jesus."

"Yeah. Listen, I have an idea."

"For?"

"Getting out of here." At Daniel's words, Jack blushed again, and dropped his eyes. "I'm gonna try something, but you can't laugh at me."

"Hell, spoil my fun," Jack said, but he didn't sound like the old Jack.

"Okay, you can laugh later, if it doesn't work. In the meantime, just, just sit there."

"Oh, like I have much of a choice." And that did sound like the old Jack. Daniel grinned at him, and lightly tapped his dirty jaw.

"I think this is a transformative area." At Jack's blank look, he continued. "Like a, a lobby or vestibule."

"Lobby."

"Foyer, anteroom, entrance. A transitional area. A waiting room."

"And we're waiting for . . . "

Daniel bit his lip. "I don't know. Don't want to know, either. But we need to get out."

"Daniel, I've tried." Daniel just stared at him. "It's true. Goddammit, you act as though I've decided to stay here."

Hesitantly, but feeling compelled, Daniel said, "I think you have, Jack." He paused and then shyly asked, "Jack, what do you think you deserve?" Jack looked away, his face tight and shuttered. "I mean it." He put his hand out again to Jack's face, this time cupping his hand around Jack's chin and gently turning him toward him. "What do you deserve?"

"I left you," Jack said brokenly.

"Never."

"I did. On Ra's ship. And Apophis's."

"It's okay, Jack."

"It isn't. I left you, and lost Sha'uri, and, just -- so many people, Daniel. All gone. All of them."

"I promise, Jack, it'll be okay. But you have to come back with me." More firmly, he said, "Or I'll kick your ass all the way back to earth."

Jack sniffed sloppily. "Like to see you try."

"Just you wait. So I'm gonna do this, um, ritual. And I don't want you to be a jerk about it, okay?"

"What ritual?" Jack asked him suspiciously.

"You'll see. You need to just sit there and be quiet. You're a quiet man, Jack. Just be quiet a little while longer." They stared into each other's eyes for several seconds, while Daniel wondered if he was nuts. Or dead. Or dreaming. At last, Jack nodded. "Good as gold, Jack," Daniel warned, and Jack rolled his eyes.

Jack watched him closely as he made his preparations. First, he built up the fire again, wandering away a bit to hunt the few tumbleweed-like bushes that grew in this meager land. When it was burning briskly, he began rummaging in his pack. He didn't have seven bullocks to sacrifice, but he had -- tuna and noodles MREs. Hmm. Chicken and dumplings? Well, the chicken bits, at least. He ripped the packet open, embarrassed by Jack's intense stare but comforted by his silence.

No wine, but he had water. And a chocolate bar. He hesitated for a minute; Jack could use the sugar and caffeine, but then continued with his plan. A packet of sugar and one of salt. Lastly, he opened the Swiss Army knife the Air Force had provided him and ran its blade through the flame until it was smudged and hot.

He built a little platform of stones, squatting in front of the fire across from Jack, and arranged the items on it. Resting his hands on the stones, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," he whispered to himself, and then looked at Jack. "Have hope," he begged Jack. "Have hope enough to forgive yourself, to let me take care of you. To care for you." Jack closed his eyes, but nodded.

First, Daniel sprinkled the salt into the fire; sparks flew up, as they had the night before they'd reached Placido. He remembered staring into the alien sky, and wished he could see it again, and earth's sky, and Abydos', too. Then the sugar, which turned the flames blue. Then he tossed the dehydrated chicken into the fire, murmuring, "Blessings, blessings." When he picked up the chocolate bar, he hesitated again, then grasped it firmly. This better work, he thought, and placed it carefully in the middle of the flames, shaking his hand as he pulled it back from the fire. He watched the paper catch fire, and the foil blacken and peel, and then the chocolate melt, smelling wonderful at first, and then burnt and dark.

It was nearly gone when he whispered, "Please release Jack. Help me get him safely home. Let me know what I must do." Then he picked up the knife, slit the tip of his left middle finger and squeezed a drop of blood out, letting it fall into the fire.

He waited for what seemed like a long time. The fire trembled and began to die. He felt his mouth pull into a grimace. Well, what had he expected? Teiresias? Not likely. At last, he poured the water onto the fire, which smoked and steamed as it sizzled out. Some of the water escaped the flames and trickled over the hardened ground toward Jack's booted foot. Daniel watched it, nearly hypnotized from staring into the flames so intently. It pooled around Jack's foot, and then darkened the sole of the boot. Daniel discovered he needed to breathe.

When he looked up, Jack was watching him intently, his face pained. "Let's go, Jack," he said quietly, and reached out his hands across the scorched and muddied earth where the fire had been. For a moment, he thought Jack would refuse, but then he stretched up both his hands to Daniel, who pulled as hard as he could. Jack was a big guy, but he rose easily, and stepped across the embers.

Without another word, they began the hike back.

They took a different route, which might have been a mistake, Daniel thought, if they wanted to find Sam and Teal'c, but he didn't think he could find the way he'd come anyway, and this seemed more direct. They were climbing steadily, although Jack still had trouble moving at times. As if stuck in mud, he'd freeze for a moment, trembling. Daniel put his arm around his waist at those times and, after a few seconds, Jack would move again. "For me," Daniel whispered the first time, and felt Jack shiver in his arms.

Jack remained uncharacteristically quiet, even passive, although responsive to Daniel's guidance. Daniel began to wonder if he was really bringing Jack home, or if he'd left some vital part of him behind. He remembered telling Jack to be quiet, and wondered if he'd cast some spell over his friend.

The raw and cracked earth gave way to a kind of asphalt, a tarry substance that stuck to their boots and pulled at their heels. Daniel couldn't tell if it was a natural exudate or if someone had built it. The city appeared around them; for the first time, he realized they'd been in a bowl surrounded by buildings but blocked from them by the heavy fogs seeping up from the sick earth.

They reached the buildings and found a small opening into an alley. Daniel couldn't take his hand from Jack; he was afraid that he'd lose him again. They worked their way through the narrow passage until it let them out into a wider corridor, foggy with the vapor seeping up from the fissured pavement beneath their boots. Daniel had no idea where they were, nor how to find Sam, but he kept them moving, half afraid that Jack would grow rooted to the ground again if they paused.

This time, he kept to the right at each opportunity, hoping to wind their way back to the main boulevard encircling the island. If he could find the pier, he might be able to find his way back to Teal'c and to Sam. On and on they walked, silently, Daniel's feet burning with fatigue and abuse. There were noises ahead of them; Daniel glanced at Jack, who seemed nearly to be sleepwalking in his exhaustion. "Somebody's up ahead," he said, and Jack nodded.

Another drunk, Daniel thought as they drew nearer, and he was right. Sprawled in the mud and shit, a broken crock lying nearby that reeked of alcohol. He could hear voices and when they turned to their right again, came across another tavern. "Sins of incontinence," Daniel murmured, and they gave the place a wide berth. Another corner, and then he saw Sam.

She was leaning against a table, one slender hip hitched on it, arms crossed, looking angrily at the woman he recognized as Casta. One of the men he'd seen earlier was there, speaking earnestly to them. Another group of three people stood apart from them, observing, their faces dark with disagreement.

"Sam," he called, and she shook her head. "Sam, it's me. I found Jack."

She stood upright so rapidly the table rocked and spun on her heel. "Colonel!" she said, but Casta put her hand on Sam's shoulder and she stopped.

"It's time to go, Sam," Daniel told her quietly.

She stared at him, and then at Jack. Strong emotions played across her pretty face: irritation, anger, hesitation. She shook her head, and Casta leaned forward to whisper into her ear. When Casta stood back, Sam said, "I can't. There's too much to do here, that I can't do on earth. In earth's military."

"Sam, your life is back there. With SG-1. Your brother Mark and his family. Your dad."

She frowned. "Dad's gone," she said flatly. "Not even on earth much. And Mark might as well live off-world, as much as I see him. There's no room there, no place to grow. No place to go."

"And there is here? What would you do here?"

"Learn. I'm learning a lot, Daniel, about how women are treated. You could learn here, too. You're not given the respect you deserve, Daniel. I see that every day at the SGC. Jack doesn't give you the respect you deserve." He started at her use of Jack's given name. It seemed disrespectful in this place.

"That's not true," he said, but she held up her hand like a traffic cop.

"Spare me. I've heard him. When you're not around," she added meaningfully.

For a moment, Daniel hesitated. He felt flushed and hot with embarrassment; what did Jack say about him when he wasn't around?

He turned to Jack, who looked pained and embarrassed. "Daniel," he said, but Daniel hushed him.

"Not now, Jack. It doesn't matter. Whatever it was, it doesn't matter."

"I was angry at you. I don't really feel that way. You have to believe me, Daniel."

For another moment, he stared at Jack, still hurt. Then he sighed, and tried to focus on the real problem: Getting Sam home. It didn't matter what Jack did or didn't say about him, Daniel told himself, or even what Jack thought about him. What mattered was they all get back. "I do, Jack. I believe you. Can you stand? Wait for me?"

"Oh, god, Daniel. Always."

He waited until he was sure Jack could stand by himself, and then turned back to Sam, who was watching them suspiciously. "Sam," he said softly, and came to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You called me your brother, do you remember? All the times we've spent together? The things we've done and seen?"

She smiled, a little ruefully.

"It's time to come home, Sam. If not for the colonel, if not for the SGC, if not for you, then for me. Come home with me, Sam. Have hope, Sam. Hope enough to forgive them -- and yourself."

Casta started to speak, but he glared at her. Sam glanced over her shoulder at Casta, and then back into Daniel's eyes. "Please," he whispered and, as she had done when she'd told him goodbye, he kissed her cheek. A tear fell from her eye.

"I can't," she whispered.

Still looking into her eyes, now red and watery, he puzzled over Sam's behavior. He wondered again how unhappy she'd really been in the military, at the SGC. The mistakes she'd made because of her overconfidence and arrogance. "Forgive yourself," he whispered into her ear.

"I don't know how," she murmured, dropping her head onto his shoulder.

At last he sighed. "You can leave," he reassured her, hoping it was true. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he took a step backwards, tugging gently at her. Wavering, she came with him with faltering steps. "You can," he said again, and led her to where Jack waited for them. He took her by the hand and then, hesitating slightly, took Jack's. "Off to see the wizard," he said, remembering Jack's words from earlier.

They went on, Daniel's heart lightening the farther they got from Casta and the others who had drawn Sam to them. He wasn't sure what the attraction was, nor did he want to know. All that mattered was getting them out.

They glided silently beside and slightly behind him. It was like towing ghosts, he thought. They didn't speak except to answer him, and both their faces were pained, almost distraught. He wondered what they were experiencing.

He heard footsteps behind them, but refused to look back.

The noise grew louder and more raucous. Daniel's hands were sweating in the firm clasp of his teammates, but he hung on and strode forward, pretending a confidence he didn't feel at all. More people were in the streets, most ignoring them, but some smiling seductively. He had a bad feeling about what they were approaching when they turned another corner to the right.

This was clearly a brothel. He'd seen them in third world cities on earth, and on poverty-stricken planets throughout the galaxy. When you have nothing else, you have your body to sell. People were fucking in the doorway, on tables, right in the streets. He averted his eyes as best he could, but he had to wind their way through the bodies, humping and thrusting and sucking. Moans and slaps and cries filled the air, which smelled of sex and old sweat.

A young woman looked up from where she lay on the cobblestoned street, her bare feet in the air as some man ploughed into her, his ass tightening and bouncing rhythmically. Her face was blank until she focused on Daniel and his companions. He stopped, shocked at the spark in her eye. Clearing his throat, he said, "Come with us." The man fucking her cried out and arched his back, them rolled off her, revealing her damp genitals, swollen and pink. "Get up and come with us," Daniel whispered, and she crawled up, letting her dirty robes cover herself. He moved on, pulling Jack and Sam with them. The woman followed, her head bowed.

A man fucking another man watched them pass, slowing his thrusts. His partner pushed back and grabbed his hip, but he dropped his tunic to hide their connection and pulled back. "I paid you, you shit," the other man hissed and swung at him, but the first man stepped sharply away, and tossed a coin into his face.

"Come with me," Daniel murmured, and walked on, pulling Jack and Sam with him, holding his head high. His throat was parched and he kept trying to swallow, to moisten his mouth. He hated this place. The evil done here filled the air, the noxious fumes of people hurting each other, hurting themselves, just as Jack had given into his despair, and Sam to her resentment, and Teal'c to his desire for revenge. He walked faster, ignoring the pain in his feet and head. They had to get out of here.

The next street was filled with brawls, men and women screaming imprecations at each other, throwing punches and chairs and bottles, like some demented Hollywood fight scene, and the very air smelled hot like rage. This time he didn't slow, just walked straight through them, pushing the fighters aside with his shoulders while Jack and Sam trailed behind him. "Get out of the way," he barked at three men blocking them, wrestling each other, biting, saliva dripping from one man's mouth like a mad dog's. The man raised his head to stare in surprise at Daniel, the emptiness in his eyes sliding away, but then he was pulled under by the other two.

Daniel walked on. Jack and Sam followed closely, nearly on his heels, and he kept his grip firm on their hands. He'd given up trying to understand what was going on; maybe he'd be able to figure it out when they got home. Right now, he was working on the going home part of the equation.

He knew that others were following them, and wondered what to do. Would they follow him to the pier? What then -- would the boatman agree to ferry them back? How would he pay him? Why were they here, anyway? He shook his head in frustration.

The crowd was even thicker here, and noisier. He pulled Sam and Jack to him and tucked their arms under his. He shoved people back with his shoulder, snarling at the intruders, who either slunk away into the crowd or stared at him in surprise.

He wasn't even sure what these people were doing. Fighting, yes; fucking, that, too; but singing, drinking, partying, arguing, waving pens and diagrams and books as they ranted. Sam clung to him, but Jack stared blankly at the chaos around them. He wondered how they'd ever find Teal'c in all this. The confusion and unpredictability frightened him a little, and he'd lost all sense of direction. He just kept climbing up.

So on they climbed, pushing through the horde, sweating in the close atmosphere. The heavy fog brushed the tops of the red-stone buildings that crushed together, stone bridges linking them like vertebrae. Lord, we are so small, and you are so great, Daniel thought, staring upwards, wishing he could see just one star, just one, to remind him that galaxies existed elsewhere, galaxies of stars around which circled planets with clean air and cool water.

He was so thirsty. He'd poured out the last of their water during that ridiculous, patched-together ritual he'd performed for Jack. He glanced at Jack's face, pale under the streaks of grime and sweat, his normal ruddy color drained, even in the red glow of the terrible light here. Well, nothing for it but to push on. He'd be damned if he'd accept a mouthful of anything from anyone in this place.

They turned to the right again, and suddenly he recognized this as the way to the street where they'd lost Teal'c. He slowed, and then stopped, holding tightly on to Sam and Jack. They stood quietly by him, and he was unnerved by their lassitude. Jack, in particular -- this wasn't his Jack, the Jack who'd bullied him across the galaxy and back. But he couldn't spare much time or thought for him right now; right now, he had to find Teal'c.

Where to go? He sighed, and felt a stirring behind him -- the others, he assumed. Superstitiously, he refused to look back, but kept Jack and Sam in his peripheral vision. He hesitated a few seconds longer and then pulled them with him as he turned right again. Finally, the crowd began to thin a bit, although he still had to steer between clots of people who stared suspiciously at him as he passed.

Another right turn, and he thought he felt a lightening of the air, and the strong scent of water. Maybe he was drawing near the lake or sea they'd crossed to get here. He looked up again, but the tops of the buildings were still smudged by the heavy coils of grey fog and smoke seeping up through them, as if they were smokestacks venting hell. Still, he felt unreasonably cheered and walked a little faster.

Another right turn and he stopped. Surely this was where he'd lost Teal'c? The street looked familiar, and that window, with the yellow light gleaming, wasn't that where they'd seen the men who'd entrapped him? He approached cautiously, pulling Sam and Jack closer to him, afraid they, too, would be attracted to whatever plotting those people had been doing that had caught Teal'c's attention.

He bent over slightly and peered through the window. It was the same place, he was sure, but the room was empty, the table barren except for a few cups and glasses, half empty. He hesitated and then continued down the steps they'd taken and into the house. "Teal'c?" he called, and then louder, "Teal'c? It's Daniel. Is anyone here?"

There was a noise ahead and to his left; still towing his quiescent charges, he headed toward it. Two men's voices, one unmistakably Teal'c's. He'd recognize that deep rumble anywhere. He pushed open the door with his shoulder, and saw them.

Teal'c was pressed against the opposite wall; another man, even larger than he, had his hands on either side of Teal'c's head. Teal'c looked tense, his passive face strained, his lips parted as he stared into the other man's eyes. "Teal'c," Daniel said firmly. Teal'c's eyes flicked to him and, after a few seconds, his face relaxed a bit.

"Daniel Jackson. It is good to see you again."

"Yeah, well, ditto. Come on, Teal'c. We need to get out of here now."

Teal'c looked torn, as torn as Sam had earlier. What was the pull for them here? Daniel couldn't understand it. Was Teal'c unhappy in the SGC? On earth? What was the charm of this miserable place? Daniel couldn't answer any of his questions, and, irrationally, he didn't dare release Sam and Jack for even a moment. "Come on, Teal'c," he said briskly, as if calling a dog. "Time to go." He moved as if leaving. Teal'c's eyes followed him longingly, but the other man didn't move. He spoke to Teal'c, although Daniel couldn't understand what he said. "Teal'c," Daniel said sharply. "Now." He hoped he sounded like Jack.

Teal'c tried to slide away from the near-embrace he was held in, but the other man put his hand's on Teal'c's shoulders and he froze. Daniel knew he had to do something -- had to release Teal'c, just as he had released Jack and Sam. He sighed and tried to think.

At last, he tugged Sam and Jack with him and walked to Teal'c, stepping to one side of the man holding him. He refused to look at the anonymous interloper; he just stared into Teal'c's face. Teal'c's eyes were wide and he was sweating. "Eldest brother," Daniel said softly in Teal'c's language. "It's time to go home. I can't do this without you, Teal'c. Something's wrong with Sam and Jack. I need your help. Please, Teal'c." When Teal'c continued to hesitate, Daniel added, "I call on our bond, Teal'c. What we've been through. You know, in your heart, that you owe me your loyalty. I call on that. I call you, Teal'c. Come with me." He stared into Teal'c's eyes. After a very long moment, Teal'c nodded.

"I owe you my loyalty," Teal'c whispered, sounding very unlike himself. Daniel was chilled to the bone, but tried not to show it. "But I need your forgiveness, and I need my revenge. As do you."

"I forgave you long ago, Teal'c. Now it's time to forgive yourself. And yes, we do need revenge. And we'll get satisfaction, someday. Put your hope in that, Teal'c, and in me. I promise, you'll have your revenge, and freedom for your people. But you can't achieve that here, and you can't achieve it right now, and you can't achieve it alone." Never dropping Teal'c's eyes, he began to back away, coaxing Teal'c to come with him. "Come with us," he murmured in English again, as if to a skittish horse, and Teal'c began to follow. "Good. Good." Teal'c pushed aside the other man's arm, and stepped free. "Take Sam's hand, Teal'c," Daniel instructed him, and began to breathe again when he obeyed. Feeling ridiculous, as if he were towing the three blind mice on steroids, he led his charges outdoors and began the long hike back to the pier.

Only a few steps up, however, and he heard a low groaning noise. He froze, recognizing it from his time in Turkey and LA. He stared up at the towers around them and saw the reflections in their windows begin to tremble. Then the building next to him appeared to ripple, and he tugged at his friends' hands again, moving them out into the middle of the street and away from possible falling debris. "Come on," he told them, and started to jog up the hill. "Come on, come on." An elaborate facade over a doorway began to crack, sounding like fireworks, and he ran faster. They needed to get away from these buildings and out to the broad boulevard girdling the island.

He turned right again, just in time to see the windows from a building ahead of them sheet downwards, a fragile avalanche, stunning in its musical crash. Thank god they hadn't been any nearer. Towing the others, he crunched through the mess, suddenly grateful for the heavy Air Force boots he'd been complaining about. Another right and he saw the street was nearly blocked -- one of the stone bridges had fallen and smashed into fist-sized chunks of crumbling stone and plaster. He navigated his teammates around this carefully, watching their steps for them, since they seemed to be growing more and more dazed, overcome by their disturbing experiences in this awful place.

A final right, and then he saw the water, grey and shivering, sloshing up over the pier and even against the walls they'd climbed up into the city. The ferryman was there, too, bobbing in his rowboat, clinging to a post his boat was tied to. Daniel led Jack and the others to the steep stairs leading down to the pier, but there, they froze.

Around him, he heard people crying and buildings collapsing, even though the earth itself had stopped its quivering. He stood panting on the rim of the island, looking back to the mainland and, in the distance, the dull glow of Placido, its wall a white necklace, grey light falling on it through the heavy fog and clouds that continually steamed up from this island and the surrounding water. He was sweating and trembling himself, from exhaustion and fear, and dropped his head, gulping the hot air, now thick with dust.

Still refusing to look behind him, he stepped backwards, so he could look into his teammates' faces. Trying to swallow, he choked out, "Teal'c. You need to get Sam down there. Can you do that?"

"No, Daniel," Sam murmured, clinging to him. Her face and hair were pink with dust and exertion and emotion, her eyes watery.

"Yes, Sam. We're leaving. Teal'c."

Teal'c stared at him, and Daniel saw that, he, too, was nearly overwhelmed with some foreign emotion. He sighed, irritated and more than a bit frightened. What the fuck was going on? "Now, Teal'c," he said, trying again to sound like Jack, but Teal'c remained as if rooted. "What is it with you?" he asked, pushed to his limit. "Goddammit, Teal'c, get in the boat, and take Sam with you."

He could see that Teal'c was wavering. What should he do? People just obeyed Jack, when Jack wasn't aphasic. Suddenly he shoved Sam into Teal'c's arms; as he'd hoped, Teal'c caught her. She cried out in fright and shock, and Teal'c wrapped himself around her protectively. "Sam Carter!" Daniel shouted. "Go!" She glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes wide, and then he saw her look beyond him, at whatever was following them. Her mouth dropped open, but Teal'c pulled at her.

"Major Carter, Major Carter," he said in his soft baritone.

"Now!" Daniel shouted, and pulled Jack toward them. He'd kick Teal'c down those damn stairs if he had to, but Teal'c seemed to have been jerked awake by the sudden arrival of Sam into his arms, and finally, finally began to move. Daniel was near tears with frustration and relief.

He jerked Jack around in front of him and put his hands on him. "Snap out of it," he said firmly, staring into Jack's dull brown eyes. The spark that said "Jack" was missing; he'd grown nearly catatonic. Whatever had happened in Niccolo's garden had led to this. Daniel wracked his brain. Lavender, stealing lavender, stealing from a prince; fuck, what was going on?

He began to push Jack down the stairs, backwards, one step at a time, talking steadily to him. "Come on, Jack. I've got coffee in my pack I'll fix when we get back. Come on." He shook Jack roughly, trying to manhandle him down the stairs, but as big as Daniel was, Jack was just as big, and it wasn't easy. Teal'c and Sam made it to the bottom of the stairs and he shouted at them, "Get in the boat!" He stepped toward them and missed the next step, and suddenly he was falling, the most terrible sensation in the world, and then Jack grabbed him by the arm, his right arm, nearly wrenching it out of the socket, and hauled him back up, supporting him. "Jesus," Jack choked out, the first words Daniel had heard from him in hours, and he hugged Jack in relief and gratitude.

They held on for a long time. Daniel closed his eyes to this awful world; he couldn't wait to go home, to bring Jack home safe and sound, and only after a while did he realize that he'd hung on a little too long, a little too tightly. He pulled back, embarrassed, as did Jack, but then Daniel seized Jack again, not releasing his grip. "Wait," he whispered, and Jack turned back to him. They look at each other for what seemed like minutes to Daniel. In my life, I love you more, he thought, and then Jack said softly, "Are we having a moment or something?"

Daniel smiled hesitantly, and whispered, "Something." They didn't drop their gazes but continued to look at each other. Daniel squeezed Jack's forearm, and tried to smile, but he was too overwhelmed by the day, by nearly falling to his death on the wet stones below. Jack lifted his other hand and gently cupped Daniel's neck on the left side. For a moment, Daniel thought he was going to kiss him, and he realized that he wanted Jack to kiss him, right here, in front of Teal'c and Sam and the boatman and whatever was following them. He wanted that.

Instead, he sighed, and said, "Let's go, Jack," and gently pushed him to face the water. They walked down the wet stairs together, Daniel's arm snugly around Jack's waist, not fully trusting him. Once on the pier, the water sloshing over their boots, Jack did twist back and look up at the city. "Don't," Daniel whispered urgently.

"It's hard to leave," Jack said, his voice only a breath above the noise of the crowd and water and the groaning of the line that tied the boat to this shore.

Daniel wondered why. Had despair brought Jack here? Lavender was an herb of protection, an anti-depressant, an infusion of it raised spirits, and it was thought to integrate spirituality with sexuality. Would stealing it somehow rob Jack of those qualities? Or had Jack stolen it because he was seeking these qualities?

Whatever. He embraced Jack, almost cradling him. "Time to go," he said yet again, and for another moment feared Jack would refuse. At last, he turned in Daniel's arms. Teal'c put out his hands and Daniel passed Jack from the necropolis and to his friends in the little boat.

He looked up, out at the water between them and the shore, in time to see a trough form in the water, so smooth it glassily reflected the dull sky above it, and then suddenly arch into a peak that rushed toward them. "Oh, fuck," he said, and quickly untied the line, casting them off, pushing the boat back with his foot. "Go," he shouted at the boatman, who pulled at the oars, heading the bow of the boat directly into the wave coming toward them.

"Daniel!" Jack shouted, but Teal'c pulled him down. Daniel ran toward the stairs and saw hundreds of people lining the sea wall staring down at him. "Get back!" he called urgently, trying to climb the stairs, but the stones rippled beneath him, and this time he did fall.

"Shit," he thought just before he hit the water, and went under. The water was warm, like a hot spring, which would explain all the steam, he thought, and then was shocked at his calm. He remembered swimming from Nem's home under the sea on Oannes, all the swimming pools and lakes he'd swum in from childhood, swimming in his mother's womb, swimming through the sea of stars, disembodied, non-corporeal, thoughtless, weightless, transcendent, evanescent, ephemeral.

When he woke, he was draped over Jack's knees, stretched out in the little boat, Sam crying in Teal'c's arms, Jack smoothing his hair back from his face. He began to cough and then turned and puked up what felt like a gallon of water. His throat and lungs burned, and he'd lost his glasses so the world was almost as blurry as it had been underwater.

"Shit," he gasped, and Jack bent over him, hugging him awkwardly.

"You said it," he whispered into Daniel's throat. Daniel relaxed under his warm, damp weight. Despite Jack's bony knees, he felt safe here. Saved.

"Daniel, Daniel," Sam said, taking his hand. "Are you all right?"

He nodded at her. His head hurt like a son of a bitch, his ears were full of water, and his stomach still roiled at whatever he'd ingested, but he was breathing and with his friends. That constituted all right in his idiolect.

"Help me get him up, Teal'c," Jack said, and they pushed and pulled at his awkward limbs until he was sitting, at first in Jack's lap and then on the seat next to him. Neither man released him, nor did Sam relinquish his hand.

"What happened?" he rasped, and coughed more.

"Shut up, Daniel," Jack said, and despite his discomfort, he smiled. This sounded like the Jack he knew and loved. "There was an earthquake. Pitched you right off that goddamn island. And what the hell were you thinking, going back like that? Why didn't you get into the boat?"

He waved wordlessly. "The people," he finally said. "What happened to the ones following us?"

Silence. He looked at Jack's face, tired and so sad. "What is it, Jack?" Jack nodded toward the stern of the boat, and Daniel saw the sea wall had broken away, presumably eaten by the wave he'd seen. "How did I survive that?" he murmured. Shouldn't the wall have fallen on him?

Jack hugged him tighter, but no one answered. The boatman continued to row through the rough water, now churned and brown with debris, and Daniel stared back at where they had been. The little boat bobbed in the undulating swell, rising and falling so the island came into and then out of his sight. He sighed and rested heavily against Jack. He'd done enough. It was time for the others to take care of him for a bit.

The trip back to the mainland took a lot longer, it seemed to him, than the trip to the island had. At last they reached the further shore, and the boatman helped each of them out. Before they left, he caught Daniel's hand. "Here," he said gruffly, and pressed the coin back into it.

"No, it's yours," Daniel began, but the boatman held up his hand.

"It was never mine," he said, and pushed off, heading back toward the island. "No one's ever left," he called across the water, and then he was gone, disappeared into the grey gloom and the brown swell of the waves.

"Stargate," Daniel said to his teammates, and they nodded. Jack put his arm around Daniel's waist and they started the long hike back to the gate, this time going around Placido.

No one bothered them.

~ ~ ~

Epilog

Jack leaned forward and tilted his head to look at the photograph General Hammond carefully laid on the table. "Doctor Jackson," the general told them, "I have to say, I find the resemblance between you and this statue quite remarkable. You say this was a culture based on earth's Italy?"

"Yes, definitely. Their Italian was descended from the Tuscan dialect, in fact. They were probably taken from earth around Dante's time, in the thirteenth century."

"Do you have any Italian in your family?"

"No, no, I'm of Dutch and English descent. But there was active trade between Holland and Tuscany at the time, so perhaps some distant uncle settled there and was taken."

The general nodded thoughtfully, staring at the screen cap from the videotape Daniel had made. At last he said, "Do you think the resemblance had anything to do with the, uh, with your reception on that island?"

Well, that was the sixty-four thousand dollar question, Jack thought, watching Daniel's handsome face. "Maybe," Daniel said doubtfully. "I guess we'll never know."

"No, we will not," Jack said firmly. Thankfully.

"Well, I'm delighted you are safely returned and recovered so completely. SG-1 is stood down for a week, and I'd like you all to get off base for a while. Consider that an order."

"Yes, sir," Jack and Sam said; Teal'c nodded, and Daniel smiled shyly at the general. After a moment, he pushed the photo back to Daniel and rose.

"A week," Jack said happily as they filed down the stairs toward the elevators on the next level from the briefing room. "I could really use that. I need to winterize my truck, and put up storm windows. Maybe we could catch a movie?" he asked Daniel.

"Yeah, I'd like that. What'll you do, Sam, Teal'c?"

"Um, on Friday I'm going to take Teal'c to the Denver ballet season premiere."

"Ballet?" Jack wondered. "Opera, I get, I love, but ballet? Why would Teal'c want to see a ballet?"

"Major Carter has shown me videotapes of this ballet. On Chulak, we have similar rituals, performed around bonfires, to induce trances and speak with the gods."

Jack raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything, while Daniel speculated whether ballet originated in India from fakirs walking over hot coals and in Persia from dervishes whirling wildly, and wondered if there was parallel evolution between the art forms on earth and Chulak.

Jack was so happy to be back. Unreasonably happy, he knew. He also knew he'd never really understand what had happened to him. He remembered plucking the lavender leaves, rubbing them between his fingers so their sweet pungency was released, and sharing that with his teammates. Then the guard came, and he'd thoughtlessly stuffed the two leaves into his pocket.

Why would taking two tiny leaves of lavender have resulted in -- in whatever had happened? Daniel had told him the mythology around lavender: Indian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, it seemed that every culture used it as a cooking herb or medicine. Even his mom and ex-wife.

Daniel had wondered aloud whether stealing the governor's lavender had triggered something. Maybe they have a really good sense of smell? he'd half-joked to Jack while they'd waited in the infirmary after their return. Other than blisters and a desperate desire for a shower, nothing had been wrong with them, but Jack could still remember submerging into lethargy and despondency as he'd been taken from Placido to the necropolis.

Daniel had no explanation for that, but Jack did. He knew. He'd been overwhelmed with memories of the people he'd loved and lost. So fucking many of them. They'd visited him on that island, silent ghosts staring accusingly at him, their breath burning hot on his shamed face. Sha'uri had been among them, and even Daniel's parents, lost long before he'd known of Daniel's existence. He could never tell Daniel that. Never. It would hurt him too much to know that anything in his life had hurt Jack. There'd been enough hurting, in both their lives.

And not just on the island. Even here in the barren corridors of the SGC, in his own home, the ghosts followed him, silent reminders of his many, many failures and inadequacies.

Yet Daniel had come for him. Daniel had thought Jack was worthy of rescue. Brave, foolish, heartbroken Daniel had marched into hell, seized Jack, and forcibly removed him, shredding the ghosts, stalking right through them, pushing his beautiful face into Jack's and insisting he come home.

Home. He glanced at Daniel, still by his side even as he spoke over his shoulder to Teal'c and Sam walking behind them. A rush of love nearly overpowered Jack, and only the knowledge that it would frighten and upset Daniel kept Jack from stopping right there in the SGC and embracing his friend, clinging to him in gratitude and relief. Fuck, he needed to get home.

And Daniel didn't know it, but he was taking Daniel with him. Just as Daniel had rescued him from hell, he was rescuing Daniel from the SGC and its lonely hallways and cavernous rooms full of Marines and SFs and scientists.

Jack ached to tell Daniel what he'd seen while there. He wanted to speak to Daniel of Sha'uri and how she'd silently accused Jack of complicity in her abduction and death. He wanted Daniel to reassure him, but he knew he never would, because he would never hurt Daniel, and because what he wanted from Daniel was absolution and forgiveness. And he knew he had that already.

SG-1 meandered through the labyrinth of the SGC, passing the security checkpoints until they finally arrived topside. Jack breathed in the piney air with pleasure; even scented with diesel and gasoline as it was, it was better than being indoors or on that island. They said goodbye to Carter and Teal'c; she was taking him grocery shopping, in preparation for a dinner he was cooking her in his quarters on base. Then he turned to Daniel.

"Come home with me?" he invited. "Pizza, or whatever you want."

"Come home with me," Daniel said firmly, and took Jack by the elbow. "And I want Thai."

Daniel didn't know it, but Jack had studied Dante's _Commedia_ in college. Well, didn't everyone? A line from the _Inferno_ came to him as they walked across the parking lot:

lo mio maestro,   
e io dopo le spalle.

My master leads me,  
and I follow him.

Jack smiled to himself as he followed Daniel to his car.

~ ~ ~

The descent to Avernus is easy; the gate of Pluto stands open night and day; but to retrace one's steps and return to the upper air, that is the toil, that the difficulty. --Virgil

* * *

Written March 24 - April 10, 2002


End file.
